Yoshikazu Emi

ATP-binding cassette transporter isoform C7 (ABCC7), also designated as cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), is exclusively targeted to the apical plasma membrane of polarized epithelial cells. Although the apical localization of ABCC7 in epithelia is crucial for the Cl- excretion into lumens, the mechanism regulating its apical localization is poorly understood. In the present study, an apical localization determinant was identified in the N-terminal 80-amino acid long cytoplasmic region of ABCC7 (NT80). In HepG2 cells, overexpression of NT80 significantly disturbed the apical expression of ABCC7 in a competitive manner, suggesting the presence of a sorting determinant in this region. Deletion analysis identified a potential sorting information within a 20-amino acid long peptide (aa 41-60) of NT80. Alanine scanning mutagenesis of this region in full-length ABCC7 further narrowed down the apical localization determinant to four amino acids, W57DRE60. This WDRE sequence was conserved among vertebrate ABCC7 orthologs. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that W57 and E60 were critical for the apical expression of ABCC7, confirming a novel apical sorting determinant of ABCC7. Furthermore, a WXXE motif (tryptophan and glutamic acid residues with two-amino acid spacing) was found to be conserved among the N-terminal regions of apically localized ABCC members with 12-TM configuration. The significance of the WXXE motif was demonstrated for proper trafficking of ABCC4 to the apical plasma membrane.Key words: apical plasma membrane, sorting, ATP-binding cassette transporter, CFTR, MRP4.

The effects of phenobarbital (PB), 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), and α-naphthoflavone (α-NF) on the synthesis of drug-inducible forms of cytochrome P-450, P-450(PB-1), and P-450(MC-1), and sex-specific forms of cytochrome P-450, P-450(M-1), and P-450(F-1), in male and female rats were studied. Whereas P-450(PB-1) and P-450(MC-1) in liver microsomes were markedly induced in both sexes by treatment with PB and MC, respec-tively, the contents of P-450(M-1) and P-450(F-1) were significantly decreased by the treatments. α-NF, which is not a P-450 inducer, did not change the contents of sex-specific forms of cytochrome P-450. The translatable mRNAs of the P-450s were also determined by using an in vitro translation system. The mRNAs coding for P-450(PB-1) and P-450(MC-1) were increased by drug administrations. On the other hand, the mRNAs coding for P-450(M-1) and P-450(F-1) were transiently decreased by the drugs, and then returned to the normal levels. The time courses of the induction of the drug-inducible P-450s and the repression of the sex-specific P-450s showed no close correlation. α-NF had no effect on the synthesis of P-450(M-1) and P-450(F-1). We also found that the synthesis of P-450(M-1) in the livers of untreated rats showed no diurnal variations.

Three forms of cytochrome P-450, tentatively designated P-450(M-l), P-450(M-2), and P-450(M-3), and one form of cytochrome P-450, P-450(F-1), were purified from the liver microsomes of untreated male and female rats, respectively. Each purified form of the cytochrome showed a single protein band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and gave a minimum molecular weight of 51, 000 for P-450(M-1), 48, 000 for P-450(M-2), 49, 000 for P-450(M-3), and 50, 000 for P-450(F-1). The carbon monoxide-difference spectra of reduced P-450(M-1), P-450(M-2), P-450(M-3), and P-450(F-1) showed an absorption maximum at 451, 451, 448, and 449 nm, re-spectively. Judging from the absolute absorption spectra, the four forms of cyto-chrome P-450 were of low-spin type in the oxidized forms. The antibodies against P-450(M-2) did not crossreact with the other forms in the Ouchterlony double diffu-sion test, whereas the immunodiffusion test showed immunocrossreactivity between P-450(M-1) and P-450(F-1), P-450(M-1) and P-450(M-3), and P-450(M-3) and P-450(F-1). The NH2-terminal amino acid sequences of the four forms confirmed that they were different molecular species, although significant homology was noticed among P-450(M-1), P-450(M-3), and P-450(F-1). The quantitation of P-450(M-1) and P-450(F-l) in liver microsomes by quantitative immunoprecipitation confirmed that these two forms of cytochrome P-450 were developmentally induced in male and female rats, respectively. P-450(M-2) was also developmentally induced in male rats. In a reconstituted system containing NADPH and NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase, P-450(M-1) oxidized benzphetamine at a high rate, whereas the other forms had low activity toward benzphetamine. None of the four forms<br>showed high activity toward benzo(a)pyrene. P-450(M-1) catalyzed the hydroxyla-tion of testosterone at the 16a and 2a positions, whereas P-450(M-2) catalyzed the 15a hydroxylation of the same substrate.