Vol. 298, Issue 2, 695-702, August 2001

Ethanolamine Transport in Human Placental Brush-Border Membrane Vesicles

Steven M. Grassl

Department of Pharmacology, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York

Pathways for transport of ethanolamine by human placental epithelia were investigated by measurement of [³H]ethanolamine uptake in brush-border membrane vesicles isolated by divalent cation precipitation. The presence of a conductive uptake pathway for ethanolamine was suggested by the marked stimulation of ethanolamine uptake to levels exceeding equilibrium induced by an inside-negative potassium diffusion potential. Evidence to suggest conductive ethanolamine uptake resulted from a mediated transport process included 1) the concentration-dependent inhibition by choline; 2) trans-stimulation of choline and ethanolamine uptake by ethanolamine; and 3) substrate-specific inhibition by chemically related analogs. Transport of both choline and ethanolamine by a common facilitated diffusion mechanism is suggested by 1) trans-stimulation of choline uptake by ethanolamine; 2) mutual inhibition of conductive choline and ethanolamine uptake by ethanolamine and choline; 3) the effect of ethanolamine on the kinetics of conductive choline uptake; and 4) the rank order inhibition of choline and ethanolamine uptake by the same panel of chemical analogs. The present study identifies the presence of a facilitated diffusion mechanism as a brush-border membrane transport pathway for choline and ethanolamine accumulation by human placenta.