From coiled tubules to a secretory canaliculus: a new model for membrane transformation and acid secretion by gastric parietal cells.

The acid-secreting gastric parietal cell has a unique secretory membrane system. This membrane system exists in an inactive (non-secreting) and an active (secreting) form. The current accepted model to explain the transformation events associated with the conversion of the non-secreting membrane to the secreting membrane, and vice versa, invokes membrane recycling of elongated vesicle structures. However, recent studies employing cryopreparation have shown that the non-secreting membrane in these cells is actually a complex network of helically coiled tubules. Here, we present an alternative model to explain how the membrane in parietal cells is activated to secrete HCl.