Does the composition of urinary extracellular vesicles reflect the abundance of renal Na(+)/phosphate transporters?

Studies addressing homeostasis of inorganic phosphate (Pi) are mostly restricted to murine models. Data provided by genetically modified mice suggest that renal Pi reabsorption is primarily mediated by the Na(+)/Pi cotransporter NaPi-IIa/Slc34a1, whereas the contribution of NaPi-IIc/Slc34a3 in adult animals seems negligible. However, mutations in both cotransporters associate with hypophosphatemic syndromes in humans, suggesting major inter-species heterogeneity. Urinary extracellular vesicles (UEV) have been proposed as an alternative source to analyse the intrinsic expression of renal proteins in vivo. Here, we analyse in rats whether the protein abundance of renal Pi transporters in UEV correlates with their renal content. For that, we compared the abundance of NaPi-IIa and NaPi-IIc in paired samples from kidneys and UEV from rats fed acutely and chronically on diets with low or high Pi. In renal brush border membranes (BBM) NaPi-IIa was detected as two fragments corresponding to the full-length protein and to a proteolytic product, whereas NaPi-IIc migrated as a single full-length band. The expression of NaPi-IIa (both fragments) in BBM adapted to acute as well to chronic changes of dietary Pi, whereas adaptation of NaPi-IIc was only detected in response to chronic administration. Both transporters were detected in UEV as well. UEV reflected the renal adaptation of the NaPi-IIa proteolytic fragment (but not the full-length protein) upon chronic but not acute dietary changes, while also reproducing the chronic regulation of NaPi-IIc. Thus, the composition of UEV reflects only partially changes in the expression of NaPi-IIa and NaPi-IIc at the BBM triggered by dietary Pi. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00424-022-02744-1.