Transport of divalent transition-metal ions is lost in small-intestinal tissue of b/b Belgrade rats

Belgrade rats exhibit microcytic, hypochromic anemia and systemic iron deficiency due to a glycine-to-arginine mutation at residue 185 in a metal ion transporter of a divalent metal transporter/divalent cation transporter/solute carrier 11 group A member 2 or 3 (DMT1/DCT1/SLC11A2), a member of the natural-resistance-associated macrophage protein (Nramp) family. By use of rabbit duodenal tissue, a calcein fluorescence assay has previously been developed to assess transport of divalent metal ions across the small-intestinal brush border membrane (BBM). The assay was readily applied here to rat BBM to learn if it detects DMT1 activity. The results demonstrate protein-mediated transport across the BBM of all tested ions: Mn(2+), Fe(2+), and Ni(2+). Transport into BBM vesicles (BBMV) from (b/b) Belgrade rats was below the detection limit. BBMV of +/b origin had substantial activity. The kinetic rate constant for Ni(2+) membrane transport for +/b BBMV was within the range for normal rabbit tissue. Vesicles from +/b basolateral membranes (BLM) showed similar activity to BBMV while b/b BLM vesicles (BLMV) lacked transport activity. Immunoblots using isoform-specific antibodies demonstrated that intestinal levels of b/b DMT1 were increased compared to +/b DMT1, reflecting iron deficiency. Immunoblots on BBMV indicated that lack of activity in b/b vesicles was not due to a failure of DMT1 to localize to the BBMV; an excess of specific isoforms was present compared to +/b BBMV or duodenal extracts. Immunoblots from BLMV also exhibited enrichment in DMT1 isoforms, despite their distinct origin. Immunofluorescent staining of thin sections of b/b and +/b proximal intestines confirmed that DMT1 localized similarly in mutant and control enterocytes and showed that DMT1 isoforms have distinct distributions within intestinal tissue.