NaAcetate - import, transport, passive diffusion??

[Ugo51]

Hi everyone,

how would you expect hepatocytes to take up sodium acetate from the culture medium?

 

Cheers

 

[Iota]

Tell us what you think first

[Ugo51]

the thing is that I don't really think much...

 

Sodium acetate should slightly dissolve in the cellular medium (pKa in water is about 4, right?). I would then expect the acetate to diffuse though the membrane.

If all the acetate was to be utilyzed for FA synthesis (i.e. converted to Acyl-CoA) this would skew the equilibrium of the solution, more NaAcetate will dissolve and diffuse into the cells and so on until no acetate is left in the medium.

Anyway, beside the fact I don't think this is going to happen quite quickly, I have no idea what will happen in the meantime to the undissociated NaAcetate.

I know there is a range of ion/solute symporter/transporter on the plasma membrane, but I just have no idea which are expressed on hepatocytes and to what extent they partecipate in the process of acetate uptake.

[Craer]

Do you think an additional factor could increase or affect this acetate uptake?

Edited December 14, 2013 by Craer

[Ugo51]

Sure. What I'm trying to understand is what mediates such transport