9-Deazapurines as Broad-Spectrum Inhibitors of the ABC Transport Proteins P-Glycoprotein, Multidrug Resistance-Associated Protein 1, and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein

Chinese hamster ovary cells selected for resistance to colchicine display pleiotropic cross-resistance to a wide range of amphiphilic drugs. The drug-resistant phenotype is due to a membrane alteration which reduces the rate of drug permeation. Surface labelling studies reveal that drug-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell membranes possess a carbohydrate-containing component of 170 000 daltons apparent molecular weight which is not observed in wild type cells. Through studies of the metabolic incorporation of carbohydrate and protein precursors, and through the use of selective proteolysis, this component is shown to be a cell surface glycoprotein. Since this glycoprotein appears unique to mutant cells displaying altered drug permeability, we have designated it the P glycoprotein. The relative amount of surface labelled P glycoprotein correlates with the degree of drug resistance in a number of independent mutant and revertant clones. A similar high molecular weight glycoprotein is also present in drug-resistant mutants from another hamster cell line. Observations on the molecular basis of pleiotropic drug resistance are interpreted in terms of a model wherein certain surface glycoproteins control drug permeation by modulating the properties of hydrophobic membrane regions...

The human ATP-binding cassette transporter multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1), encoded by ABCC1, was initially identified because of its ability to confer multidrug resistance in lung cancer cells. It is now established that MRP1 plays a role in protecting certain tissues from xenobiotic insults and that it mediates the cellular efflux of the proinflammatory cysteinyl leukotriene C4 as well as a vast array of other endo- and xenobiotic organic anions. Many of these are glutathione (GSH) or glucuronide conjugates, the products of Phase II drug metabolism. MRP1 also plays a role in the cellular efflux of the reduced and oxidized forms of GSH and thus contributes to the many physiological and pathophysiological processes influenced by these small peptides, including oxidative stress. In this review, the pharmacological and physiological aspects of MRP1 are considered in the context of the current status and future prospects of pharmacological and genetic modulation of MRP1 activity.