Receptor-like protein-tyrosine phosphatase α enhances cell surface expression of neural adhesion molecule NB-3.

Neural adhesion molecule NB-3 plays an important role in the apical dendrite development of layer V pyramidal neurons in the visual cortex, and receptor-like protein-tyrosine phosphatase α (PTPα) mediates NB-3 signaling in this process. Here we investigated the role of PTPα in regulating cell surface expression of NB-3. We found that cortical neurons from PTPα knock-out mice exhibited a lower level of NB-3 at the cell surface. When expressed in COS1 cells, NB-3 was enriched in the Golgi apparatus with a low level of cell surface expression. However, co-expression of PTPα increased the cell surface distribution of NB-3. Further analysis showed that PTPα facilitated Golgi exit of NB-3 and stabilized NB-3 protein at the cell surface by preventing its release from the plasma membrane. The extracellular region of PTPα but not its catalytic activity is necessary for its effect on NB-3 expression. Thus, the PTPα-mediated increase of NB-3 level at the cell surface represents a novel function of PTPα in NB-3 signaling in neural development.

Effects of sodium bicarbonate and ammonium chloride pre-treatments on PEPT2 (SLC15A2) mediated renal clearance of cephalexin in healthy subjects.

PEPT2 mediates the H(+) gradient-driving reabsorption of di- and tri-peptides, and various peptidomimetic compounds in the kidney. This study examines the influence of urinary pH modification through sodium bicarbonate and ammonium chloride pre-treatments on the function of PEPT2 in healthy subjects, using cephalexin as the probe drug. Sixteen male subjects received a single oral dose of 1000 mg cephalexin under ammonium chloride and sodium bicarbonate treatment, respectively, with a wash-out period of one week. The study subjects were genotyped for PEPT2 polymorphic variants. Cephalexin concentrations in plasma and urine were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The mean renal clearance of cephalexin was significantly higher under ammonium chloride treatment than that under sodium bicarbonate treatment (P < 0.01). This difference was significant for PEPT2*2/*2 (P = 0.017) but not for PEPT2*1/*1 (P = 0.128). No differences were observed for other pharmacokinetic parameters. The findings of this study suggest that urinary pH changes may alter the pharmacokinetics of PEPT2's substrates. This effect was more obvious for the PEPT2*2/*2.

Interethnic differences of PEPT2 (SLC15A2) polymorphism distribution and associations with cephalexin pharmacokinetics in healthy Asian subjects.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to characterize the population frequency of PEPT2 (SLC15A2) polymorphic variants in three Asian ethnic populations, namely Chinese, Malay and Asian Indian, and to investigate the associations of ethnicity (Chinese vs. Asian Indian), PEPT2 haplotype and cephalexin pharmacokinetics in healthy Asian subjects. METHODS: PEPT2 polymorphisms were screened from a cohort of 96 Chinese, 96 Malay and 96 Asian Indian subjects. Cephalexin (1000 mg, orally) pharmacokinetics was characterized in an additional 15 Chinese and 15 Asian Indian healthy subjects. These 30 subjects were subsequently genotyped for their PEPT2 polymorphisms. RESULTS: In total, ten common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected in the three populations, forming two PEPT2 haplotypes. There were significant ethnic differences in PEPT2 haplotype distribution: the frequencies of the *1 and *2 alleles were 0.307 and 0.693 in the Chinese population, 0.495 and 0.505 in the Malay population and 0.729 and 0.271 in Asian Indian population, respectively. The C (max) of cephalexin was significantly lower in the Chinese (29.80 +/- 4.09 microg ml(-1)) population than in the Asian Indian one (33.29 +/- 4.97 microg ml(-1); P = 0.045). This difference could be explained by the higher average body weight of the Chinese population. There was no other significant difference in cephalexin pharmacokinetics between either ethnic or PEPT2 genotype groups. CONCLUSION: PEPT2 polymorphism distributions differ significantly between Chinese, Malay and Asian Indian populations. However, cephalexin pharmacokinetics is not meaningfully different between Chinese and Asian Indians. The association between the PEPT2 haplotype and cephalexin pharmacokinetics could not be confirmed, and future studies under better controlled conditions are needed.

Neural recognition molecules CHL1 and NB-3 regulate apical dendrite orientation in the neocortex via PTP alpha.

Apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex have a stereotypic orientation that is important for neuronal function. Neural recognition molecule Close Homolog of L1 (CHL1) has been shown to regulate oriented growth of apical dendrites in the mouse caudal cortex. Here we show that CHL1 directly associates with NB-3, a member of the F3/contactin family of neural recognition molecules, and enhances its cell surface expression. Similar to CHL1, NB-3 exhibits high-caudal to low-rostral expression in the deep layer neurons of the neocortex. NB-3-deficient mice show abnormal apical dendrite projections of deep layer pyramidal neurons in the visual cortex. Both CHL1 and NB-3 interact with protein tyrosine phosphatase alpha (PTPalpha) and regulate its activity. Moreover, deep layer pyramidal neurons of PTPalpha-deficient mice develop misoriented, even inverted, apical dendrites. We propose a signaling complex in which PTPalpha mediates CHL1 and NB-3-regulated apical dendrite projection in the developing caudal cortex.