Further characterization of the electrogenicity and pH sensitivity of the human organic anion-transporting polypeptides OATP1B1 and OATP1B3.

Organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) are involved in the liver uptake of many endogenous and xenobiotic compounds, such as bile acids and drugs, respectively. Using Xenopus laevis oocytes and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing rat Oatp1a1, human OATP1B1, or OATP1B3, the sensitivity of these transporters to extracellular/intracellular pH (pHo/pHi) and changes in plasma membrane potential (ΔΨ) was investigated. In X. laevis oocytes, nonspecific plasma membrane permeability increased only at pHo below 4.5. Above this value, both using oocytes and CHO cells, extracellular acidification affected differently the specific transport of taurocholic acid (TCA) and estradiol 17ß-d-glucuronide (E(2)17ßG) by Oatp1a1 (stimulation), OATP1B1 (inhibition), and OATP1B3 (stimulation). Changes in substrate uptake in the presence of valinomycin (K(+)-ionophore), carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone and nigericin (protonophores), and amiloride (Na(+)/H(+)-inhibitor) and cation replacement in the medium were studied with fluorescent probes for measuring substrate uptake (cholylglycyl amidofluorescein) and changes in pHi (SNARF-4F) and ΔΨ [DilC(1)(5)]. The results suggest that activity of these three carriers is sodium/potassium-independent and affected differently by changes in pHo and ΔΨ: Oatp1a1 was confirmed to be an electroneutral anion exchanger, whereas the function of both OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 was markedly affected by the magnitude of ΔΨ. Moreover, electrophysiological measurements revealed the existence of a net anion influx associated to OATP1B1/OATP1B3-mediated transport of TCA, E(2)17ßG, and estrone-3-sulfate. Furthermore, a leakage of Na(+) through OATP1B1 and OATP1B3, which is not coupled to substrate transport, was found. In conclusion, these results suggest that OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 are electrogenic transporters whose activity may be strongly affected under circumstances of displacement of local pH.

Inhibition of Na+-taurocholate Co-transporting polypeptide-mediated bile acid transport by cholestatic sulfated progesterone metabolites.

Sulfated progesterone metabolite (P4-S) levels are raised in normal pregnancy and elevated further in intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), a bile acid-liver disorder of pregnancy. ICP can be complicated by preterm labor and intrauterine death. The impact of P4-S on bile acid uptake was studied using two experimental models of hepatic uptake of bile acids, namely cultured primary human hepatocytes (PHH) and Na(+)-taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP)-expressing Xenopus laevis oocytes. Two P4-S compounds, allopregnanolone-sulfate (PM4-S) and epiallopregnanolone-sulfate (PM5-S), reduced [(3)H]taurocholate (TC) uptake in a dose-dependent manner in PHH, with both Na(+)-dependent and -independent bile acid uptake systems significantly inhibited. PM5-S-mediated inhibition of TC uptake could be reversed by increasing the TC concentration against a fixed PM5-S dose indicating competitive inhibition. Experiments using NTCP-expressing Xenopus oocytes confirmed that PM4-S/PM5-S are capable of competitively inhibiting NTCP-mediated uptake of [(3)H]TC. Total serum PM4-S + PM5-S levels were measured in non-pregnant and third trimester pregnant women using liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry and were increased in pregnant women, at levels capable of inhibiting TC uptake. In conclusion, pregnancy levels of P4-S can inhibit Na(+)-dependent and -independent influx of taurocholate in PHH and cause competitive inhibition of NTCP-mediated uptake of taurocholate in Xenopus oocytes.

OATP8/1B3-mediated cotransport of bile acids and glutathione: an export pathway for organic anions from hepatocytes?

In cholestasis, the accumulation of organic anions in hepatocytes is reduced by transporters (multidrug resistance-associated proteins and OSTalpha-OSTbeta) able to extrude them across the basolateral membrane. Here we investigated whether organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) may contribute to this function. Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing human carboxylesterase-1 efficiently loaded cholic acid (CA) methyl ester, which was cleaved to CA and exported. Expression of OATP8/1B3 enhanced CA efflux, which was trans-activated by taurocholate but trans-inhibited by reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione. Moreover, taurocholate and estradiol 17beta-D-glucuronide, but not bicarbonate and glutamate, cis-inhibited OATP8/1B3-mediated bile acid transport, whereas glutathione cis-stimulated this process, which involved the transport of glutathione itself with a stoichiometry of 2:1 (GSH/bile acid). No cis-activation by glutathione of OATP-C/1B1 was found. Using real time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, the absolute abundance of OATP-A/1A2, OATP-C/1B1, and OATP8/1B3 mRNA in human liver biopsies was measured. In healthy liver, expression levels of OATP-C/1B1 were approximately 5-fold those of OATP8/1B3 and >100-fold those of OATP-A/1A2. This situation was not substantially modified in several cholestatic liver diseases studied here. In conclusion, although both OATP-C/1B1 and OATP8/1B3 are highly expressed, and able to transport bile acids, their mechanisms of action are different. OATP-C/1B1 may be involved in uptake processes, whereas OATP8/1B3 may mediate the extrusion of organic anions by symporting with glutathione as a normal route of exporting metabolites produced by hepatocytes or preventing their intracellular accumulation when their vectorial traffic toward the bile is impaired.