LOCALIZATION OF PEPTIDE HYDROLYSIS IN THE ENTEROCYTE AND THE TRANSPORT MECHANISMS OF APICAL MEMBRANE

1. 1. The absence of the effect of anoxia on the hydrolysis rate of a number of dipeptides and one tripeptide by the intact and homogenized mucosa of the small intestine in different mammals (rat, mouse and guinea pig) has been demonstrated. 2. 2. It has been shown that in rats anoxia inhibits intestinal transport both of free glycine and glycine formed during the hydrolysis of Gly-Leu, Leu-Gly, Gly-Pro but not Pro-Gly. 3. 3. Data obtained using the anoxic criterion suggest that the system of membrane hydrolysis of peptides with the subsequent absorption of released amino acids presents a dominant mechanism of protein assimilation under normal physiological conditions. 4. 4. However, they do not exclude the possibility of the transport of peptides across the apical membrane of enterocytes. © 1990.