Regulation of glucose transporters in LLC-PK1 cells: effects of D-glucose and monosaccharides.

Regulation of D-glucose transport in the porcine kidney epithelial cell line LLC-PK1 was examined. To identify the sodium-coupled glucose transporter (SGLT), we cloned and sequenced several partial cDNAs homologous to SGLT1 from rabbit small intestine (M. A. Hediger, M. J. Coady, T. S. Ikeda, and E. M. Wright, Nature (London) 330:379-381, 1987). The extensive homology of the two sequences leads us to suggest that the high-affinity SGLT expressed by LLC-PK1 cells is SGLT1. SGLT1 mRNA levels were highest when the D-glucose concentration in the culture medium was 5 to 10 mM. Addition of D-mannose or D-fructose, but not D-galactose, in the presence of 5 mM D-glucose suppressed SGLT1 mRNA levels. SGLT1 activity, measured by methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside uptake, paralleled message levels except in cultures containing D-galactose. Therefore, SGLT1 gene expression may respond either to the cellular energy status or to the concentration of a hexose metabolite(s). By isolating several cDNAs homologous to rat GLUT-1, we identified the facilitated glucose transporter in LLC-PK1 cells as the erythroid/brain type GLUT-1. High-stringency hybridization of a single mRNA transcript to the rat GLUT-1 cDNA probe and failure to observe additional transcripts hybridizing either to GLUT-1 or to GLUT-2 probes at low stringency provide evidence that GLUT-1 is the major facilitated glucose transporter in this cell line. LLC-PK1 GLUT-1 mRNAs were highest at medium D-glucose concentrations of less than or equal to 2 mM. D-Fructose, D-mannose, and to a lesser extent D-galactose all suppressed GLUT-1 mRNA levels. Since the pattern of SGLT1 and GLUT-1 expression differed, particularly in low D-glucose or in the presence of D-galactose, we suggest that the two transporters are regulated independently.