Preparation and characterization of the lateral and basal plasma membranes of the rat intestinal epithelial cell

A technique is described for the isolation of a plasma-membrane fraction from the rat intestinal epithelial cell which is distinct from the microvillus membrane of that cell. The isolated fraction contains only about 0.2% of the sucrase activity in the original homogenate and negligible quantities of nuclear and mitochondrial membrane markers. It contains 12% of the total Na(+),K(+)-dependent adenosine triphosphatase and 7% of the alkaline phosphatase, with significant increments in specific activity of these enzymes. Multiple membrane preparations were highly reproducible with respect to the specific activities of the markers studied. The small intestine of one rat yields material containing about 1.3mg of protein. In addition an assay is described suitable for determining 5'-nucleotidase in the small intestine.