Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) have been extensively recognized as key determinants of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of various drugs, xenobiotics and toxins. Putative N-glycosylation sites located in the extracellular loops 2 and 5 is considered a common feature of all OATPs and some members have been demonstrated to be glycosylated proteins. However, experimental evidence is still lacking on how such a post-translational modification affect the transport activity of OATPs and which of the putative glycosylation sites are utilized in these transporter proteins. In the present study, we substituted asparagine residues that are possibly involved in N-glycosylation with glutamine residues and identified three glycosylation sites (Asn134, Asn503 and Asn516) within the structure of OATP1B1, an OATP member that is mainly expressed in the human liver. Our results showed that Asn134 and Asn516 are used for glycosylation under normal conditions; however, when Asn134 was mutagenized, an additional asparagine at position 503 is involved in the glycosylation process. Simultaneously replacement of all three asparagines with glutamines led to significantly reduced protein level as well as loss of transport activity. Further studies revealed that glycosylation affected stability of the transporter protein and the unglycosylated mutant was retained within endoplasmic reticulum.

The organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs, gene symbol SLCO) are a family of transporters that play important roles in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of various drugs. Although substrate specificity of transporter proteins is under extensive study, the underlying mechanisms for substrate binding and/or recognition remain largely unknown. Transmembrane domain 6 (TM6) is a relatively conserved region within OATP family members, and several amino acid residues on its extracellular half are part of the OATP family signatureIn the present study, two adjacent tryptophan residues (Trp258 and Trp259) within TM6 were identified as critical amino acids for the transport function of OATP1B1. Kinetic studies showed that substitution of Trp258 with alanine resulted in monophasic kinetics for estrone-3-sulfate uptake, with a significantly higher K m value (K m 5 12.0 6 2.8 mM) than the high-affinity component of wild-type OATP1B1 (K m 5 0.38 6 0.06 mM). On the other hand, W259A retained the biphasic characteristic of the transporter. K m values of the high-and lowaffinity components for estrone-3-sulfate of W259A are 1.93 6 0.76 mM and 30.8 6 4.4 mM, respectively. Further studies revealed that W258A retained transport function of another prototypic substrate, taurocholate, while W259A displayed a dramatically reduced uptake of the substrate and exhibited an 8-fold increase in the K m value compared with that of the wild-type and W258A. Our results suggest that Trp258 and Trp259 may play different roles in the uptake of different substrates by OATP1B1.

Organic anion-transporting polypeptides are members of the solute carrier (SLC) family and key determinants for the transmembrane transport of a wide variety of compounds. OATP1B1 is predominantly expressed at the basolateral membrane of human hepatocytes and play an important role in drug clearance from the body. It has been demonstrated to be responsible for the hepatic uptake of various drugs. Computer-based hydropathy analysis predicted several putative phosphorylation sites at the amino and carboxyl termini and at intracellular loop 3 of OATP family members. Therefore, their transport functions may be regulated by phosphorylation. Previous studies have demonstrated that uptake function of OATP2B1 and OATP1A2 is regulated by protein kinase C (PKC). In the present study, we treated HEK293 cells stably expressing OATP1B1 with different PKC modulators and measured their transport activity for prototypic substrate estrone-3-sulfate. It was found that OATP1B1 uptake function was reduced upon PKC activation. Further studies indicated that PKC may affect OATP1B1 activity through regulation of the cell surface protein level. Moreover, we found out that PKC activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) not only affects the internalization of OATP1B1 but its recycling as well. Immunocytochemistry analysis revealed that internalized OATP1B1 co-localized with early and recycling endosomal markers and the co-localization of OATP1B1 with recycling endosome is dependent on PKC activation. Taken together, our present study demonstrated that PKC regulates the function of OATP1B1 by affecting internalization and recycling of the transporter protein.

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs, gene symbol SLCO) are membrane proteins that mediate the sodium-independent transport of a wide range of endogenous and exogenous compounds. Due to their broad substrate specificity, wide tissue distribution, and involvement in drug-drug interactions, OATPs have been considered as key players in drug absorption, distribution, and excretion. Transmembrane domains (TMs) are crucial structural features involved in proper functions of many transporters. According to computer-based modeling and previous studies of our laboratory and others, TM11 of OATP1B1 may face the substrate interaction pocket and thus play an important role in the transport function of the protein. Alanine-scanning of the transmembrane domain identified seven critical amino acid residues within the region. Further analysis revealed that alanine substitution of these residues resulted in reduced protein stability, which led to significantly decreased protein expression on the plasma membrane. In addition, all mutants exhibited an altered Km for ES uptake (either high affinity or low affinity component, or both), though Km for taurocholate transport only changed in R580A, G584A, and F591A. These results suggested that critical residues in TM11 not only affect protein stability of the transporter, but its interaction with substrates as well. The identification of seven essential residues out of 21 TM amino acids highlighted the importance of this transmembrane domain in the proper function of OATP1B1.

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs, gene symbol ) are important membrane transporter proteins that mediate the uptake of wide ranges of endogenous and exogenous compounds. OATP2B1 has been found in multiple organs and tissues, including the liver, small intestine, kidney, brain, placenta, heart, skin, as well as skeletal muscle, and is proposed to be involved in the uptake of orally administered drugs. Quite a few reports have demonstrated that transmembrane domains (TMs) are crucial for proper functions of OATP family members. Comparative modeling proposed that TM1, along with TM2, 4, and 5 of the N-terminal half of OATP2B1, may be localized within the substrate interaction pocket and are important for uptake function of the transporter. Alanine scanning of the putative transmembrane domain 1 of OATP2B1 revealed that substitution of L58 with alanine dramatically altered the K value, and mutation of V52, H55, Q59, and L69 resulted in significantly reduced substrate turnover number, whereas A61V, Q62A, and S66A exhibited significant change in both K and V values. In addition, phenylalanine at position 51 seems to play an important role in maintaining proper folding of OATP2B1 because alanine replacement of F51 caused accelerated degradation of the transporter protein. Although proteasome and lysosome inhibitors could partially recover protein level, the mutant transporter remained nonfunctional. Taken together, the identification of nine essential amino acid residues within TM1 of OATP2B1 suggested that the transmembrane domain is important for maintaining proper function of the transporter.