The epithelial sodium channel in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi)

Abstract

Epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) is a Na + -selective, aldosterone-stimulated ion channel involved in sodium transport homeostasis. ENaC is rate-limiting for Na + absorption in the epithelia of osmoregulatory organs of tetrapods. Although the ENaC/degenerin gene family is proposed to be present in metazoans, no orthologues or paralogues for ENaC have been found in the genome databases of teleosts. We studied full-length cDNA cloning and tissue distributions of ENaCα, β and γ subunits in the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri , which is the closest living relative of tetrapods. Neoceratodus ENaC ( n ENaC) comprised three subunits: n ENaCα, β and γ proteins. The n ENaCα, β and γ subunits are closely related to amphibian ENaCα, β and γ subunits, respectively. Three ENaC subunit mRNAs were highly expressed in the gills, kidney and rectum. Amiloride-sensitive sodium current was recorded from Xenopus oocytes injected with the n ENaCαβγ subunit complementary RNAs under a two-electrode voltage clamp. n ENaCα immunoreactivity was observed in the apical cell membrane of the gills, kidney and rectum. Thus, n ENaC may play a role in regulating sodium transport of the lungfish, which has a renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. This is interesting because there may have been an ENaC sodium absorption system controlled by aldosterone before the conquest of land by vertebrates.