Nucleoside transporter proteins: emerging targets for drug discovery

Gemcitabine, a pyrimidine analogue of deoxycytidine, is an anticancer nucleoside drug that requires functional plasma membrane nucleoside transporter proteins to reach its intracellular targets and cause cytotoxicity. Because of technical difficulties inherent in studying nucleoside transport in human cells, we rigorously defined gemcitabine membrane transportability by producing each of the available human (h) and rat (r) recombinant nucleoside transporters (NTs) individually in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Oocytes were microinjected with in vitro-transcribed RNAs derived from complementary DNAs encoding (C = concentrative) rCNT1, rCNT2, hCNT1, hCNT2, (E = equilibrative) rENT1, rENT2, hENT1, and hENT2. Uptake of [(3)H]gemcitabine and [(14)C] uridine was measured 3 days after microinjection to determine kinetic constants. We also used the two-electrode, voltage-clamp technique to investigate the electrophysiology of hCNT1-mediated gemcitabine transport. Gemcitabine was transported by most of the tested proteins (the exceptions being the purine-selective rCNT2 and hCNT2), with the greatest uptake occurring in oocytes producing recombinant rCNT1 and hCNT1. Influxes of gemcitabine mediated by hCNT1, hENT1, and hENT2 were saturable and conformed to Michaelis-Menten kinetics with apparent K(m) values of 24, 160, and 740 microM, respectively. Gemcitabine had a limited ability to cross the lipid bilayer of oocyte membranes by simple diffusion. External application of gemcitabine to oocytes producing recombinant hCNT1 induced an inward current, which demonstrated that hCNT1 functions as a Na(+)/nucleoside co-transport protein and confirmed the transporter's ability to transport gemcitabine. Mammalian nucleoside transporters vary widely in their affinity and capacity to transport gemcitabine. Variation in the tumor and tissue distribution of plasma membrane nucleoside transporter proteins may contribute to the solid tumor activities and schedule-dependent toxic effects of gemcitabine.

The uptake of nucleosides (or nucleobases) is essential for nucleic acid synthesis in many human cell types and in parasitic organisms that cannot synthesize nucleotides de novo. The transporters responsible are also the route of entry for many cytotoxic nucleoside analogues used in cancer and viral chemotherapy. Moreover, by regulating adenosine concentrations in the vicinity of its cell-surface receptors, nucleoside transporters profoundly affect neurotransmission, vascular tone and other processes. The recent molecular characterization of two families of human nucleoside transporters has provided new insights into the mechanisms of natural nucleoside and drug uptake and into future developments of improved therapies.

On the basis of the complete genome sequence of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a computer-aided analysis was carried out of all members of the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), which typically consists of permeases with 12 transmembrane spans. Analysis of all 5885 predicted open reading frames identified 186 potential MFS proteins. Binary sequence comparison made it possible to cluster 149 of them into 23 families. Putative permease functions could be assigned to 12 families, the largest including sugar, amino acid, and multidrug transport. Phylogenetic clustering of proteins allowed us to predict a possible permease function for a total of 119 proteins. Multiple sequence alignments were made for all families, and evolutionary trees were constructed for families with at least four members. The latter resulted in the identification of 21 subclusters with presumably tightly related permease function. No functional clues were predicted for a total of 41 clustered or unclustered proteins.