The Rectal Gland of the Shark: The Road to Understanding the Mechanism and Regulation of Transepithelial Chloride Transport

Abstract

Pictured, described, speculated upon, for close to 400 years, the function of the rectal gland of elasmobranchs remained unknown. In the late 1950s Burger discovered that the rectal gland of Squalus acanthias secreted an almost pure solution of sodium chloride, isosmotic with blood, that could be stimulated by volume expansion of the fish. Twenty five years later, Stoff discovered that the secretion of the gland was mediated by adenyl cyclase. Studies since then have shown that Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is the neurotransmitter responsible for activating adenyl cyclase; however, the amount of circulating VIP does not change in response to volume expansion. The humoral factor involved in activating the secretion of the gland is C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), secreted from the heart in response to volume expansion. CNP circulates to the gland where it stimulates the release of VIP from nerves within the gland, but it also has a direct effect, independent of VIP. Sodium, potassium and chloride are required for the gland to secrete, and the secretion of the gland is inhibited by ouabain or furosemide. The current model for the secretion of chloride was developed from this information. Basolateral NaKATPase maintains a low intracellular concentration of sodium, which establishes the large electro-chemical gradient for sodium directed into the cell. Sodium moves from the blood into the cell (together with potassium and chloride) down this electro-chemical gradient, through a coupled sodium, potassium, and two chloride cotransporter (NKCC1). Upon activation, chloride moves from the cell into the gland lumen, down its electrical gradient through apical CFTR. The fall in intracellular chloride leads to the phosphorylation and activation of NKCC1 that allows more chloride into the cell. Transepithelial sodium secretion into the lumen is driven by an electrical gradient through a paracellular pathway. The aim of this review is to examine the history of the origin of this model for the transport of chloride and suggest that it is applicable to many epithelia that transport chloride, both in resorptive and secretory directions.