Conjugate export pumps of the multidrug resistance protein (MRP) family: localization, substrate specificity, and MRP2-mediated drug resistance. (57/1752)

The membrane proteins mediating the ATP-dependent transport of lipophilic substances conjugated to glutathione, glucuronate, or sulfate have been identified as members of the multidrug resistance protein (MRP) family. Several isoforms of these conjugate export pumps with different kinetic properties and domain-specific localization in polarized human cells have been cloned and characterized. Orthologs of the human MRP isoforms have been detected in many different organisms. Studies in mutant rats lacking the apical isoform MRP2 (symbol ABCC2) indicate that anionic conjugates of endogenous and exogenous substances cannot exit from cells at a sufficient rate unless an export pump of the MRP family is present in the plasma membrane. Several mutations in the human MRP2 gene have been identified which lead to the absence of the MRP2 protein from the hepatocyte canalicular membrane and to the conjugated hyperbilirubinemia of Dubin-Johnson syndrome. Overexpression of recombinant MRP2 confers resistance to multiple chemotherapeutic agents. Because of its function in the terminal excretion of cytotoxic and carcinogenic substances, MRP2 as well as other members of the MRP family, play an important role in detoxification and chemoprevention.  (+info)

Transport of (glyco)sphingolipids in and between cellular membranes; multidrug transporters and lateral domains. (58/1752)

Sphingolipids are highly enriched in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane lipid bilayer. However, the first glycolipid, glucosylceramide, is synthesized in the opposite, cytosolic leaflet of the Golgi membrane. This has led us to experiments which suggest that the level of glucosylceramide in the cytosolic surface is carefully regulated both by the balance between synthesis and hydrolysis and by transport away from this surface through translocators, multidrug transporters, the same molecules that make cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy. Our data suggest a role for newly synthesized glucosylceramide not only in the formation of domains in the luminal leaflet of the Golgi but also on the cytosolic surface of this organelle.  (+info)

Genetic analysis of mouse embryonic stem cells bearing Msh3 and Msh2 single and compound mutations. (59/1752)

We have previously described the use of homologous recombination and CRE-loxP-mediated marker recycling to generate mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell lines homozygous for mutations at the Msh3, Msh2, and both Msh3 and Msh2 loci (2). In this study, we describe the analysis of these ES cells with respect to processes known to be affected by DNA mismatch repair. ES cells homozygous for the Msh2 mutation displayed increased resistance to killing by the cytotoxic drug 6-thioguanine (6TG), indicating that the 6TG cytotoxic mechanism is mediated by Msh2. The mutation rate of the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase 1 (HSV-tk1) gene was unchanged in Msh3-deficient ES cell lines but markedly elevated in Msh2-deficient and Msh3 Msh2 double-mutant cells. Notably, the HSV-tk1 mutation rate was 11-fold higher, on average, than that of the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (Hprt) locus in Msh2-deficient cells. Sequence analysis of HSV-tk1 mutants from these cells indicated the presence of a frameshift hotspot within the HSV-tk1 coding region. Msh3-deficient cells displayed a modest (16-fold) elevation in the instability of a dinucleotide repeat, whereas Msh2-deficient and Msh2 Msh3 double-mutant cells displayed markedly increased levels of repeat instability. Targeting frequencies of nonisogenic vectors were elevated in Msh2-deficient ES cell lines, confirming the role of Msh2 in blocking recombination between diverged sequences (homeologous recombination) in mammalian cells. These results are consistent with accumulating data from other laboratories and support the current model of DNA mismatch repair in mammalian cells.  (+info)

Function and expression of multidrug resistance-associated protein family in human colon adenocarcinoma cells (Caco-2). (60/1752)

Several organic anions are actively extruded from intestinal epithelial cells into the lumen and vascular sides. To examine the role of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) family in the intestinal efflux of organic anions, the function and expression of these proteins were investigated with Caco-2, a human adenocarcinoma cell line that retains many of the characteristics of normal enterocytes. [(3)H]2,4-Dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione (DNP-SG) and [(3)H]17beta-estradiol 17-beta-D-glucuronide (E(2)17betaG), typical substrates for MRP1 and cMOAT (canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter)/MRP2, were taken up into brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMVs) from Caco-2 in an ATP-dependent manner, with K(m) values of 16.9 +/- 7.2 and 9.4 +/- 1.2 microM, respectively. The uptake of [(3)H]DNP-SG into BBMVs was osmotically sensitive and stimulated to some extent by other nucleotide triphosphates (GTP, CTP, and UTP) but not by ADP or AMP. An ATPase inhibitor, vanadate, inhibited the ATP-dependent uptake of [(3)H]DNP-SG to some extent. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction resulted in the amplification of MRP1, MRP3, and MRP5. Northern blot analysis indicated extensive expression of cMOAT/MRP2 and MRP3 and only minimal expression of MRP1 and MRP5. Although cMOAT/MRP2 was continuously expressed throughout the culture period, MRP3 was not expressed immediately after the confluent state was reached. Collectively, the presence of ATP-dependent transport systems for DNP-SG and E(2)17betaG was demonstrated in Caco-2 cells. Because cMOAT/MRP2 and MRP3 may be expressed on brush-border and basolateral membranes in epithelial cells, respectively, the transport activity associated with BBMVs may result from the function of cMOAT/MRP2.  (+info)

Involvement of an organic anion transporter (canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter/multidrug resistance-associated protein 2) in gastrointestinal secretion of glutathione conjugates in rats. (61/1752)

We investigated the role of cMOAT/MRP2 (canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter/multidrug resistance-associated protein 2) in the intestinal secretion of organic anions by comparing the behavior in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rat (EHBR) whose cMOAT/MRP2 is hereditarily defective. After i.v. administration of 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (30 micromol/kg), the biliary and intestinal excretion of its glutathione conjugate 2, 4-dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione (DNP-SG), a substrate for cMOAT/MRP2, was significantly reduced in EHBR compared with SD rats. This result also was confirmed by Ussing chamber studies; DNP-SG showed 1.5-fold greater serosal-to-mucosal flux compared with the mucosal-to-serosal flux in SD rats, whereas a similar flux was observed in both directions in EHBR. In addition, metabolic inhibitors reduced the preferential serosal-to-mucosal flux of DNP-SG in SD rats. In everted sac studies, intestinal secretion clearance, defined as the efflux rate of DNP-SG into the mucosal side divided by the area under the curve on the serosal side, was significantly lower in the jejunum of EHBR than that in SD rats. Northern blot analyses demonstrated the highest mRNA level of cMOAT/MRP2 in the jejunum, which is in good agreement with the results of the everted sac studies. These results suggest that cMOAT/MRP2 is involved in the secretion of organic anions in the small intestine.  (+info)

Expression of multidrug resistance protein-3 (multispecific organic anion transporter-D) in human embryonic kidney 293 cells confers resistance to anticancer agents. (62/1752)

Multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP)1 and canalicular multispecific organic anion transporter (cMOAT)/MRP2 are ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters that confer resistance to natural product cytotoxic drugs. We recently described the complete coding sequences of four human MRP/cMOAT subfamily members and found that, among these proteins, MRP3/MOAT-D is most closely related to MRP1 (58% identity; M. G. Belinsky and G. D. Kruh, Br. J. Cancer, 80: 1342-1349, 1999). In the present study, we sought to determine whether MRP3 is capable of conferring resistance to cytotoxic drugs. To address this question, human embryonic kidney 293 cells were transfected with an MRP3 expression vector, and the drug resistance phenotype of the transfected cells was analyzed. The MRP3-transfected cells displayed approximately 4-fold resistance to etoposide and approximately 2-fold resistance to vincristine, compared with control transfected cells. In addition, approximately 1.7-fold resistance was observed for the antimetabolite methotrexate. Increased resistance was not observed for several other natural product agents, including anthracyclines and Taxol. The MRP-transfected cells exhibited reduced accumulation of radiolabeled etoposide, consistent with the operation of a plasma membrane efflux pump. These results indicate that MRP3 confers resistance to some anticancer agents but that its resistance pattern is distinct from the resistance patterns of other ABC transporters involved in resistance to natural product chemotherapeutic agents.  (+info)

The multidrug resistance protein 1: a functionally important activation marker for murine Th1 cells. (63/1752)

Previously, we described the expression of an energy-dependent pump in resting murine Th2 (but not resting Th1) cells which extruded the fluorescent dye Fluo-3. After stimulation with Ag and APCs, Th1 cells also expressed this pump. Furthermore, expression of the murine multidrug resistance protein 1 (mrp1) correlated with the presence of the pump. In this study, we report that Fluo-3 is indeed transported by murine mrp1 or its human ortholog MRP1, as revealed by transfection of HEK 293 cells with mrp1 or MRP1 cDNA. Like antigenic activation, IL-2 dose-dependently enhanced the Fluo-3-extruding activity in murine Th1 cells. Although TNF-alpha and IL-12 by themselves only weakly enhanced Fluo-3 extrusion, each of them did so in strong synergism with IL-2. An Ab directed against mrp1 was used to quantify the expression of mrp1 protein in T cells at the single-cell level. Like the Fluo-3 pump, mrp1 protein expression was enhanced by IL-2. Immunohistochemical studies using confocal laser microscopy indicated that mrp1 is localized mainly at the plasma membrane. In addition, protein expression of mrp1 was induced in Vbeta8+CD4+ T cells 12 h after in vivo application of Staphylococcal enterotoxin B. Finally, mrp1 was functionally relevant during the activation process of Th1 cells, because T cell activation could be suppressed by exposure of cells to the mrp1 inhibitor MK571. Thus, we present mrp1 as a novel, functionally important activation marker for Th1 cells and short-term in vivo activated CD4+ T cells, whereas its expression seems to be constitutive in Th2 cells.  (+info)

Expression of the multidrug resistance transporter NorA from Staphylococcus aureus is modified by a two-component regulatory system. (64/1752)

To dissect genetically the regulation of NorA, a multidrug transporter of Staphylococcus aureus, we analyzed the differential expression of the norA promoter using a transcriptional fusion with a beta-lactamase reporter gene. Expression studies with an arlS mutant revealed that the norA promoter is ArlS dependent. The arlR-arlS locus was shown to code for a two-component regulatory system. The protein ArlR has strong similarity to response regulators, and ArlS has strong similarity to protein histidine kinases. We have also analyzed the 350-bp region upstream of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence of norA by gel mobility shift experiments. It was shown that only the 115-bp region upstream of the promoter was necessary for multiple binding of an 18-kDa protein. From transcriptional fusions, we have localized four different putative boxes of 6 bp, which appear to play a role in the binding of the 18-kDa protein and in the up-regulation of norA expression in the presence of the arlS mutation. Furthermore, the gel mobility shift of the 18-kDa protein was modified in the presence of the arlS mutation, and the arlS mutation altered the growth-phase regulation of NorA. These results indicate that expression of norA is modified by a two-component regulatory system.  (+info)