Anion exchanger 2 (AE2) binds to erythrocyte ankyrin and is colocalized with ankyrin along the basolateral plasma membrane of human gastric parietal cells.

The hydrochloric acid secreting parietal cells of the human stomach mucosa have been shown to express anion exchanger 2 (AE2). AE2 is restricted to the basolateral membrane domain and is responsible for the basolateral uptake of Cl- and release of HCO3-. It is unknown which mechanism is responsible for the basolateral positioning of AE2 in parietal cells. We raised the question whether AE2 might be immobilized at the cell surface by linkage via ankyrin to the spectrin/actin-based membrane cytoskeleton. In the present study we communicate two observations that support this hypothesis, namely that in parietal cells ankyrin is localized with AE2 along the basolateral cell surface and, secondly, that purified erythrocyte ankyrin binds to the in vitro-translated cytoplasmic domain of AE2. We conclude from these observations that AE2 in parietal cells might be linked via ankyrin to the basolateral membrane cytoskeleton and that this type of linkage might play a role in immobilizing AE2 in a non-random fashion along the basolateral membrane domain.