To evaluate the mechanisms involved in macrophage proliferation and activation, we studied the regulation of the nucleoside transport systems. In murine bone marrow-derived macrophages, the nucleosides required for DNA and RNA synthesis are recruited from the extracellular medium. M-CSF induced macrophage proliferation and DNA and RNA synthesis, whereas interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) led to activation, blocked proliferation, and induced only RNA synthesis. Macrophages express at least the concentrative systems N1 and N2 (CNT2 and CNT1 genes, respectively) and the equilibrative systems es and ei (ENT1 and ENT2 genes, respectively). Incubation with M-CSF only up-regulated the equilibrative system es. Inhibition of this transport system blocked M-CSF-dependent proliferation. Treatment with IFN-gamma only induced the concentrative N1 and N2 systems. IFN-gamma also down-regulated the increased expression of the es equilibrative system induced by M-CSF. Thus, macrophage proliferation and activation require selective regulation of nucleoside transporters and may respond to specific requirements for DNA and RNA synthesis. This report also shows that the nucleoside transporters are critical for macrophage proliferation and activation.
Primary cultures of rat-liver parenchymal cells show carrier-mediated nucleoside uptake by a mechanism that mainly involves concentrative, Na ؉ -dependent transport activity. In contrast, the hepatoma cell line FAO shows high nucleoside transport activity, although it is mostly accounted for by Na ؉ -independent transport processes. This is associated with a low amount of sodium purine nucleoside transporter (SPNT) mRNA. SPNT encodes a purinepreferring transporter expressed in liver parenchymal cells. To analyze whether SPNT expression is modulated during cell proliferation, SPNT mRNA levels were determined in the early phase of liver growth after partial hepatectomy and in synchronized FAO cells that had been induced to proliferate. SPNT mRNA amounts increased as early as 2 hours after partial hepatectomy. FAO cells induced to proliferate after serum refeeding show an increase in SPNT mRNA levels, which is followed by an increase in Na ؉ -dependent nucleoside uptake and occurs before the peak of 3 H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. FAO cells also express significant equilibrative nucleoside transport activity, which may be accounted for by the expression of the nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBTI)-sensitive and -insensitive isoforms, rat equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (rENT1) and rENT2, respectively. Interestingly, rENT2 mRNA levels follow a similar pattern to that described for SPNT when FAO cells are induced to proliferate, whereas rENT1 appears to be constitutively expressed. Liver parenchymal cells show low and negligible mRNA levels for rENT1 and rENT2 transporters, respectively, although most of the equilibrative transport activity found in hepatocytes is NBTI-resistant. It is concluded that: 1) SPNT expression is regulated both in vivo and in vitro in a way that appears to be dependent on cell cycle progression; 2) SPNT expression may be a feature of differentiated hepatocytes; and 3) equilibrative transporters are differentially regulated, rENT2 expression being cell cycle-dependent. This is consistent with its putative role as a growth factor-induced delayed early response gene. (HEPATOLOGY 1998;28:1504-1511.)Nucleosides and nucleoside analogues have a wide range of potent physiological and pharmacological properties. Purines, essentially adenosine, play a multifactorial role in liver physiology by modulating key metabolic pathways of the hepatocyte 1-5 and influencing, among other functions, hepatic arterial pressure-flow autoregulation, 6 vasodilation, 7 and superoxide anion generation. 8
In murine bone marrow macrophages, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces apoptosis through the autocrine production of tumor necrosis factor-␣ (TNF-␣), as demonstrated by the fact that macrophages from TNF-␣ receptor I knock-out mice did not undergo early apoptosis. In these conditions LPS up-regulated the two concentrative high affinity nucleoside transporters here shown to be expressed in murine bone marrow macrophages, concentrative nucleoside transporter (CNT) 1 and 2, in a rapid manner that is nevertheless consistent with the de novo synthesis of carrier proteins. This effect was not dependent on the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor, although LPS blocked the macrophage colony-stimulating factor-mediated up-regulation of the equilibrative nucleoside transport system es. TNF-␣ mimicked the regulatory response of nucleoside transporters triggered by LPS, but macrophages isolated from TNF-␣ receptor I knock-out mice similarly up-regulated nucleoside transport after LPS treatment. Although NO is produced by macrophages after LPS treatment, NO is not involved in these regulatory responses because LPS up-regulated CNT1 and CNT2 transport activity and expression in macrophages from inducible nitric oxide synthase and cationic amino acid transporter (CAT) 2 knock-out mice, both of which lack inducible nitric oxide synthesis. These data indicate that the early proapoptotic responses of macrophages, involving the up-regulation of CNT transporters, follow redundant regulatory pathways in which TNF-␣-dependent-and -independent mechanisms are involved. These observations also support a role for CNT transporters in determining extracellular nucleoside availability and modulating macrophage apoptosis.
Hepatocytes show a Na+-dependent nucleoside transport activity that is kinetically heterogeneous and consistent with the expression of at least two independent concentrative Na+-coupled nucleoside transport systems (Mercader et al. Biochem. J. 317, 835-842, 1996). So far, only a single nucleoside carrier-related cDNA (SPNT) has been isolated from liver cells (Che et al. J. Biol. Chem. 270, 13596-13599, 1995). This cDNA presumably encodes a plasma membrane protein responsible for Na+-dependent purine nucleoside transport activity. Thus, the liver must express, at least, a second nucleoside transporter which should be pyrimidine-preferring. Homology cloning using RT-PCR revealed that a second isoform is indeed present in liver. This second isoform turned out to be identical to the 'epithelial-specific isoform' called cNT1, which shows in fact high specificity for pyrimidine nucleosides. Although cNT1 mRNA is present at lower amounts than SPNT mRNA, the amounts of cNT1 protein, when measured using isoform-specific polyclonal antibodies, were even higher than the SPNT protein levels. Moreover, partially purified basolateral plasma membrane vesicles from liver were enriched in the SPNT but not in the cNT1 protein, which suggests that the subcellular localization of these carrier proteins is different. SPNT and cNT1 protein amounts in crude membrane extracts from 6 h-regenerating rat livers are higher than in the preparations from sham-operated controls (3.5- and 2-fold, respectively). These results suggest that liver parenchymal cells express at least two different isoforms of concentrative nucleoside carriers, the cNT1 and SPNT proteins, which show differential regulation and subcellular localization.
Permeases belonging to the equilibrative nucleoside transporter family promote uptake of nucleosides and/or nucleobases into a wide range of eukaryotes and mediate the uptake of a variety of drugs used in the treatment of cancer, heart disease, AIDS, and parasitic infections. No experimental three-dimensional structure exists for any of these permeases, and they are not present in prokaryotes, the source of many membrane proteins used in crystal structure determination. To generate a structural model for such a transporter, the LdNT1.1 nucleoside permease from the parasitic protozoan Leishmania donovani was modeled using ab initio computation. Site-directed mutations that strongly impair transport or that alter substrate specificity map to the central pore of the ab initio model, whereas mutations that have less pronounced phenotypes map to peripheral positions. The model suggests that aromatic residues present in transmembrane helices 1, 2, and 7 may interact to form an extracellular gate that closes the permeation pathway in the inward oriented conformation. Mutation of two of these three residues abrogated transport activity, consistent with the prediction of the model. The ab initio model is similar to one derived previously using threading analysis, a distinct computational approach, supporting the overall accuracy of both models. However, significant differences in helix orientation and residue position between the two models are apparent, and the mutagenesis data suggest that the ab initio model represents an improvement regarding structural details over the threading model. The putative gating interaction may also help explain differences in substrate specificity between members of this family.Nucleoside transporters play pivotal roles in nucleoside salvage pathways, regulation of adenosine signaling, and the pharmacology of antineoplastic and antiviral nucleoside drugs (1, 2).Salvage of nucleosides and nucleobases is the first step of nucleoside utilization in those cells that lack the metabolic machinery to make purine nucleotides de novo, including protozoan parasites (3) and brain and bone marrow cells in mammals (4). Nucleoside permeases also mediate the uptake of a number of nucleoside analog drugs used to combat the devastating effects of chronic diseases, including those caused by RNA viruses, cancer, and parasitic protozoan infections (5, 6).Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) 4 are a unique family of proteins (the SLC29 family), with no apparent sequence homology to other types of permeases, that enable facilitated diffusion of nucleosides, nucleoside analogs, and nucleobases across cell membranes. Although widely distributed among eukaryotes from protozoa to humans, ENT-like homologs have not been identified in prokaryotes, and therefore crystallization of these transporters is likely to be even more challenging than for those membrane proteins that do have orthologs in prokaryotes. In the absence of a crystallographic structure, the use of genetic and biochemical approaches, especial...
Transporters of the equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT) family promote the uptake of nucleosides, nucleobases, and a variety of therapeutic drugs in eukaryotes from protozoa to mammals. Despite its importance, the translocation pathway that mediates the internalization of these substrates has not been identified yet in any of the ENT carriers. Previous genetic studies on the LdNT1.1 nucleoside transporter from Leishmania donoVani defined two amino acid residues in predicted transmembrane domains (TMD) 5 and 7 that may line this translocation pathway. The role of TMD5 in forming a portion of the aqueous channel was investigated using the substituted-cysteine accessibility method. A series of 22 cysteine substitution mutants spanning predicted TMD5 were created from a fully functional, cysteine-less, parental LdNT1.1. Cysteine replacement at six positions (M 176 C, T 186 C, S 187 C, Q 190 C, V 193 C, and K 194 C) produced permeases that were inhibited by incubation with sulfhydryl-specific methanethiosulfonate reagents, denoting their solvent accessibility to the translocation pathway. Adenosine was able to block this thiol modification, implying that access to the domain becomes restricted as a consequence of the substrate binding. Strikingly, the Q 190 C substitution interacted differentially with the substrates adenosine and uridine, suggesting that binding of adenosine but not uridine might directly occlude this position. When superimposed on a helical model, all six mutants clustered along one face of the amphipathic R-helix predicted for TMD5, strongly suggesting its involvement in the translocation pathway through LdNT1.1.Leishmania donoVani is the causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis, a devastating and often fatal disease if untreated. The parasite exhibits a digenetic lifecycle in which the extracellular, flagellated, and motile promastigote resides within the phlebotomine sandfly vector, and the intracellular, aflagellar, and nonmotile amastigote exists within the phagolysosome of macrophages and other reticuloendothelial cells of the mammalian host. Purine salvage pathways are critical to the survival of parasitic protozoa, because all these organisms lack the ability to synthesize the purine ring de novo (1). This metabolic disparity between parasites and their mammalian hosts, which do synthesize purines, has been exploited for rational development of improved therapies and for design of selective antiparasitic drugs (2). Since the initial step in purine salvage involves the translocation of preformed host purines across the parasite surface membranes, parasite nucleoside and nucleobase transporters may constitute potential targets for chemotherapy or routes for delivery of purine analogue drugs.The LdNT1 transporters of L. donoVani mediate the uptake of adenosine, pyrimidine nucleosides, and the cytotoxic adenosine analogue tubercidin. The LdNT1 genetic locus encompasses two closely related genes, LdNT1.1 and LdNT1.2, which were cloned by functional complementation (3) of an adenosine/pyri...
Nucleoside transporters have a variety of functions in the cell, such as the provision of substrates for nucleic acid synthesis and the modulation of purine receptors by determining agonist availability. They also transport a wide range of nucleoside-derived antiviral and anticancer drugs. Most mammalian cells co-express several nucleoside transporter isoforms at the plasma membrane, which are differentially regulated. This paper reviews studies on nucleoside transporter regulation, which has been extensively characterized in the laboratory in several model systems: the hepatocyte, an epithelial cell type, and immune system cells, in particular B cells, which are non-polarized and highly specialized. The hepatocyte co-expresses at least two Na+-dependent nucleoside transporters, CNT1 and CNT2, which are up-regulated during cell proliferation but may undergo selective loss in certain experimental models of hepatocarcinomas. This feature is consistent with evidence that CNT expression also depends on the differentiation status of the hepatocyte. Moreover, substrate availability also modulates CNT expression in epithelial cells, as reported for hepatocytes and jejunum epithelia from rats fed nucleotide-deprived diets. In human B cell lines, CNT and ENT transporters are co-expressed but differentially regulated after B cell activation triggered by cytokines or phorbol esters, as described for murine bone marrow macrophages induced either to activate or to proliferate. The complex regulation of the expression and activity of nucleoside transporters hints at their relevance in cell physiology.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.