Showing papers by "James D. Young published in 1998"

Functional Nucleoside Transporters Are Required for Gemcitabine Influx and Manifestation of Toxicity in Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract: Gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine) is a novel pyrimidine nucleoside drug with clinical efficacy in several common epithelial cancers. We have proposed that gemcitabine requires nucleoside transporter (NT) proteins to permeate the plasma membrane and to exhibit pharmacological activity. In humans, there are seven reported distinct NT activities varying in substrate specificity, sodium dependence, and sensitivity to inhibition by nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBMPR) and dipyridamole. To determine which NTs are required for gemcitabine-dependent growth inhibition, cultures from a panel of 12 cell lines with defined plasma membrane NT activities were incubated with different concentrations of gemcitabine. Cell proliferation was assessed by the sulforhodamine B assay and cell enumeration to identify the concentrations of gemcitabine that inhibited cell replication by 50% (IC50s). NT activity was a prerequisite for growth inhibition in vitro because: (a) the nucleoside transport-deficient cells were highly resistant to gemcitabine; and (b) treatment of cells that exhibited only equilibrative NT activity with NBMPR or dipyridamole increased resistance to gemcitabine by 39- to 1800-fold. These data suggested that the type of NT activities possessed by a cell may be an important determinant of its sensitivity to gemcitabine and that NT deficiency may confer significant gemcitabine resistance. We analyzed the uptake kinetics of [3H]gemcitabine by each of five human NT activities in cell lines that exhibited a single NT activity in isolation; transient transfection of the cDNAs encoding the human concentrative NT proteins (hCNT1 and hCNT2) was used to study the cit and cif activities, respectively. The efficiency of gemcitabine uptake varied markedly among the cell lines with single NTs: es approximately = cit > ei > cib >>> cif. The transportability of [3H]gemcitabine was demonstrated by reconstitution of the human es NT in proteoliposomes, confirming that gemcitabine permeation is a protein-mediated process.

Molecular cloning, functional expression and chromosomal localization of a cDNA encoding a human Na+/nucleoside cotransporter (hCNT2) selective for purine nucleosides and uridine

Abstract: Two Na+-dependent nucleoside transporters implicated in adenosine and uridine transport in mammalian cells are distinguished functionally on the basis of substrate specificity: CNT1 is selective for pyrimidine nucleosides but also transports adenosine; CNT2 (also termed SPNT) is selective for purine nucleosides but also transports uridine. Both proteins belong to a gene family that includes the NupC proton/nucleoside symporter of E. coli. cDNAs encoding members of the CNT family have been isolated from rat tissues (jejunum, brain, liver; rCNT1 and rCNT2/SPNT) and, most recently, human kidney (hCNT1 and hSPNT1). Here, the molecular cloning and functional characterization of a CNT2/SPNT-type transporter from human small intestine are described. The encoded 658-residue protein (hCNT2 in the nomenclature) had the same predicted amino acid sequence as human kidney hSPNT1, except for a polymorphism at residue 75 (Arg substituted by Ser), and was 83 and 72% Identical to rCNT2 and hCNT1, respectively. Sequence di...

Recent advances in the molecular biology of nucleoside transporters of mammalian cells

Abstract: Nucleosides are hydrophilic molecules and require specialized transport proteins for permeation of cell membranes. There are two types of nucleoside transport processes: equilibrative bidirectional processes driven by chemical gradients and inwardly directed concentrative processes driven by the sodium electrochemical gradient. The equilibrative nucleoside transport processes (es, ei) are found in most mammalian cell types, whereas the concentrative nucleoside transport processes (cit, cif, cib, csg, cs) are present primarily in specialized epithelia. Using a variety of cloning strategies and functional expression in oocytes of Xenopus laevis, we have isolated and characterized cDNAs encoding the rat and human nucleoside transporter proteins of the four major nucleoside transport processes of mammalian cells (es, ei, cit, cif). From the sequence relationships of these proteins with each other and with sequences in the public data bases, we have concluded that the equilibrative and concentrative nucleoside transport processes are mediated by members of two previously unrecognized groups of integral membrane proteins, which we have designated the equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT) and the concentrative nucleoside transporter (CNT) protein families. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge in the molecular biology of the ENT and CNT protein families, focusing on the characteristics of the four human (h) and rat (r) nucleoside transport proteins (r/hENT1, r/hENT2, r/hCNT1, r/hCNT2).

GLUT-1 mediation of rapid glucose transport in dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) red blood cells

Abstract: d-Glucose entry into erythrocytes from adult dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) was rapid, showed saturation at high substrate concentrations, and demonstrated a marked stimulation by intracellular d-gl...

Stable expression of a recombinant sodium-dependent, pyrimidine-selective nucleoside transporter (CNT1) in a transport-deficient mouse leukemia cell line.

Abstract: Previous studies of nucleoside transport in mammalian cells have identified two types of activities: the equilibrative nucleoside transporters and concentrative, Na+-nucleoside cotransporters. Char...

Adenosine transport: Recent advances in the molecular biology of nucleoside transporter proteins

Abstract: Adenosine is a hydrophilic molecule that requires specialized transport proteins for permeation of cell membranes. Functional studies have identified two types of nucleoside transport processes: equilibrative bidirectional processes driven by chemical gradients and inwardly directed concentrative processes driven by the sodium electrochemical gradient. The equilibrative nucleoside transport processes (es, ei) are widely distributed among various cell types, whereas the concentrative nucleoside transport processes (cit, cif, cib, csg, cs) are present primarily in specialized epithelial Using molecular cloning techniques and functional expression of cDNAs in oocytes of Xenopus laevis, we have isolated and characterized cDNAs encoding integral membrane proteins of the four major nucleoside transport processes of rat and human cells (es, ei, cit, cif). The equilibrative and concentrative nucleoside transport processes are mediated by members of two previously unrecognized groups of integral membrane proteins, which we have designated the Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter (ENT) and the Concentrative Nucleoside Transporter (CNT) protein families. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of the molecular biology of the ENT and CNT protein families, focusing on the role of these proteins (r/hENT1, r/hENT2, r/hCNT1, r/ hCNT2) in the transport of adenosine.

Evidence that the transport-related proteins BAT and 4F2hc are not specific for amino acids: induction of Na+-dependent uridine and pyruvate transport activity by recombinant BAT and 4F2hc expressed in Xenopus oocytes.

Abstract: Members of the BAT and 4F2hc gene family have one or, in the case of BAT, up to four transmembane domains and induce amino acid transport systems b(o,+) (BAT) and y+L (4F2hc) when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. System b(o,+) is a Na+-independent process with a broad tolerance for cationic and zwitterionic amino acids, whereas y+L exhibits Na+-independent transport of cationic amino acids (e.g., lysine) and Na+-dependent transport of zwitterionic amino acids (e.g., leucine). Mutations in the human BAT gene are associated with type I cystinuria, a genetic disease affecting the ability of intestinal and renal brush border membranes to transport cationic amino acids and cystine. An unresolved question is whether BAT and 4F2hc themselves have catalytic (i.e., transporting) activity or whether they operate as activators of other, as yet unidentified, transporter proteins. In this report, we have investigated the transport of representatives of four different classes of organic substrates in Xenopus oocytes following injection with rat BAT or 4F2hc RNA transcripts: leucine (a control amino acid substrate), uridine (a nucleoside), pyruvate (a monocarboxylate), and choline (an amine). Both recombinant proteins induced small, statistically significant Na+-dependent fluxes of uridine and pyruvate but had no effect on choline uptake. In contrast, control oocytes injected with transcripts for conventional nucleoside and cationic amino acid transporters (rat CNT1 and murine CAT1, respectively) showed no induction of transport of either leucine or pyruvate (CNT1) or uridine or pyruvate (CAT1). These findings support the idea that BAT and 4F2hc are transport activators and minimize the possibility that they have intrinsic transport capability. The transport-regulating functions of these proteins may extend to permeants other than amino acids.