The ontogeny of rat gastric H+/K+-ATPase

The ontogeny of rat H+/K+-ATPase was studied between foetal day 18 and neonatal day 18, using a specific monoclonal antibody (95-111 mAb). The H+/K+-ATPase content of gastric subcellular membranes was assayed and the ATPase subunits were characterized by Western blot. The epithelium density in parietal cells was measured by immunohistochemistry. H+/K+-ATPase was present in the 18-day-old foetuses and parietal cells were detected on foetal day 19. The H+/K+-ATPase concentration remained stable from foetal day 18 to neonatal day 1, while the parietal cell density increased 2.5-fold. The H+/K+-ATPase concentration increased by 2.5-fold on day 6, then remained constant up to day 18. The parietal cell density remained unchanged during this period, suggesting that the concentration increase on day 6 was due to an increase in parietal cell ATPase content. The 95-111 mAb recognized a 95 kDa single band on foetal day 18 and a doublet at all the other stages of development. Previous studies had demonstrated that acid secretion drops critically at day 12 post partum in the rat and that H+/K+-ATPase activity is lost. The present study demonstrates that the H+/K+-ATPase is, however, present on day 12.