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Abstract

ATP-driven acidification visualized by the delta pH indicator acridine orange was used as marker for isolation of endocytic vesicles from rat liver. By differential and Percoll density gradient centrifugation, a vesicle fraction was obtained with an approx. 80-fold enriched H⁺-pump activity. The preparation contained vesicles that had taken up fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran or horseradish peroxidase injected into rats in vivo, proving the presence of endosomes. The H⁺-pump in these vesicles showed: (a) strict preference for ATP; (b) stimulation by Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺, but not by monovalent cations; (c) stimulation by Cl^-, I^- and Br^-; (d) electrogenicity; (e) insensitivity to vanadate, slight inhibition by oligomycin and strong inhibition by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodimide (DCCD). The vesicles exhibited an ouabain-, oligomycin- and levamisole-resistant ATPase activity, which was slightly stimulated by Cl^-, unaffected by vanadate and inhibited by NEM and DCCD. Thus, a simple and efficient high-speed centrifugation method is available for isolation of endocytic vesicles from mammalian liver.