Mdr1a-, Bcrp-, and Mrp2-knockout rats are a more practical species for absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) studies than murine models and previously demonstrated expected alterations in the pharmacokinetics of various probe substrates. At present, gene expression and pathology changes were systematically studied in the small intestine, liver, kidney, and brain tissue from...

Endotoxin-induced cholestasis in rodents is caused by hepatic downregulation of transporters, including the basolateral Na+-dependent taurocholate transporter (ntcp) and the canalicular bile salt export pump (bsep) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (mrp2). Details about the regulation of the human transporter proteins during this process are lacking. We used precision-cut human and ...

Vectorial transport of endogenous substances, drugs, and toxins is an important function of polarized cells. We have constructed a double-transfected Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line permanently expressing a recombinant uptake transporter for organic anions in the basolateral membrane and an ATP-dependent export pump for anionic conjugates in the apical membrane. Basolateral uptake wa...

Atorvastatin (ATV) is primarily metabolized by CYP3A in the liver to form two active hydroxy metabolites. Therefore, the sequential transport system governed by hepatic uptake and efflux transporters is important for the drug disposition and metabolism. Here, we assessed the interaction of ATV with hepatic uptake transporter organic anion transporting polypeptide (Oatp) and efflux transporter m...

Sulfasalazine is characterized by low intestinal absorption, which essentially enables its colonic targeting and therapeutic action. The mechanisms behind this low absorption have not yet been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of efflux transporters in the intestinal absorption of sulfasalazine as a potential mechanism for its low small-intestinal absorption and ...

The possibility of interactions between natural products/supplements and conventional prescription medicines is one of the most important issues in pharmacotherapeutic safety. Recently, we reported that some terpenoids such as (R)-(+)-citronellal and glycyrrhetic acid, which are present in herbal medicines, can act as inhibitors of P-glycoprotein (MDR1/ABCB1). In the present study, the effects ...

Cyclic AMP stimulates translocation of Na(+)/taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP) from the cytosol to the sinusoidal membrane and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) to the canalicular membrane. A recent study suggested that protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) may mediate cAMP-induced translocation of Ntcp and Mrp2. In addition, cAMP has been shown to stimulate NTCP translocation in...

Multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) isoforms 1 through 6 mRNA are expressed in the human intestine and Caco-2 cells. In Caco-2 cells, the rank order for mRNA expression was MRP2 > or = MRP6 > MRP4 > or = MRP3 > MRP1 = MRP5. The functional expression of MRP-like activity was quantified as the efflux of the fluorescent probe calcein from confluent, polarized monolayers of Caco-2 cells. ...

The hepatic excretion of hydrophilic conjugates, end products of phase II metabolism, is not completely understood. In the present studies, transport mechanism(s) responsible for the biliary excretion of 4-methylumbelliferyl glucuronide (4MUG) and 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (4MUS) were studied. Isolated perfused livers (IPLs) from Mrp2-deficient (TR(-)) Wistar rats were used to examine the ro...