Enhancement of the functional stability of solubilized nucleoside transporters by substrates and inhibitors

Functional Characterization of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1 (ScENT1)

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) are polytopic membrane transporters responsible for the translocation of nucleosides, nucleobases—to a lesser extent—and nucleoside analog therapeutics across cellular membranes. ENTs function in a diffusion controlled bidirectional manner and are thought to utilize an alternating access transport mechanism. However, a detailed understanding of ENT function at the molecular level has remained elusive. ScENT1 (formerly known as Function Unknown Now 26 or FUN26) is the only known ENT ortholog endogenously expressed in S. cerevisiae, and a proteoliposome assay system was used to study homogenously overexpressed and purified ScENT1 (wildtype relative to L390A and F249I mutants). L390 and F249 are highly conserved residues and were found to alter transporter function. L390A produced a reduction of mean transport activity while F249I increased mean substrate translocation relative to wildtype protein. However, both mutations resulted in transport of UTP—a novel gain of function for any ENT. These residues were then mapped onto an ab initio model of FUN26 which suggests they function in substrate translocation (L390) or cytoplasmic gating (F249). Furthermore, wildtype, L390A, and F249I were found to be sensitive to the presence of alcohols. Ethanol attenuated ScENT1-mediated transport of uridine by ~50%. These findings further demonstrate functional similarities between ScENT1 and human ENT isoforms and support identification of FUN26 as ScENT1, the first ENT isoform in S. cerevisiae.

Expression and purification of human and Saccharomyces cerevisiae equilibrative nucleoside transporters

Nucleosides play an essential role in the physiology of eukaryotes by acting as metabolic precursors in de novo nucleic acid synthesis and energy metabolism. Nucleosides also act as ligands for purinergic receptors. Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) are polytopic integral membrane proteins that aid in regulating plasmalemmal flux of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides and nucleobases. ENTs exhibit broad substrate selectivity across different isoforms and utilize diverse mechanisms to drive substrate flux across membranes. However, the molecular mechanisms and chemical determinants of ENT-mediated substrate recognition, binding, inhibition, and transport are poorly understood. To determine how ENT-mediated transport occurs at the molecular level, greater chemical insight and assays employing purified protein are essential. This article focuses on the expression and purification of human ENT1, human ENT2, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae ScENT1 using novel expression and purification strategies to isolate recombinant ENTs. ScENT1, hENT1, and hENT2 were expressed in W303 Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and detergent solubilized from the membrane. After detergent extraction, these ENTs were further purified using immobilized metal affinity chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. This effort resulted in obtaining quantities of purified protein sufficient for future biophysical analysis.

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters-A review

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) are polytopic integral membrane proteins that mediate the transport of nucleosides, nucleobases, and therapeutic analogs. The best-characterized ENTs are the human transporters hENT1 and hENT2. However, non-mammalian eukaryotic ENTs have also been studied (e.g., yeast, parasitic protozoa). ENTs are major pharmaceutical targets responsible for modulating the efficacy of more than 30 approved drugs. However, the molecular mechanisms and chemical determinants of ENT-mediated substrate recognition, binding, inhibition, and transport are poorly understood. This review highlights findings on the characterization of ENTs by surveying studies on genetics, permeant and inhibitor interactions, mutagenesis, and structural models of ENT function.

High yield expression and purification of equilibrative nucleoside transporter 7 (ENT7) from Arabidopsis thaliana

BACKGROUND

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) facilitate the import of nucleosides and their analogs into cells in a bidirectional, non-concentrative manner. However, in contrast to their name, most characterized plant ENTs act in a concentrative manner. A direct characterization of any ENT protein has been hindered due to difficulties in overexpression and obtaining pure recombinant protein.

METHODS

The equilibrative nucleoside transporter 7 from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtENT7) was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes to assess mechanism of substrate uptake. Recombinant protein fused to enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was expressed in Pichia pastoris to characterize its oligomeric state by gel filtration and substrate binding by microscale thermophoresis (MST).

RESULTS

AtENT7 expressed in X. laevis oocytes works as a classic equilibrative transporter. The expression of AtENT7-eGFP in the P. pastoris system yielded milligram amounts of pure protein that exists as stable homodimers. The concentration dependent binding of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides to the purified recombinant protein, assessed by MST, confirmed that AtENT7-eGFP is properly folded. For the first time the binding of nucleobases was observed for AtENT7.

SIGNIFICANCE

The availability of pure recombinant AtENT7 will permit detailed kinetic and structural studies of this unique member of the ENT family and, given the functional similarity to mammalian ENTs, will serve as a good model for understanding the structural basis of translocation mechanism for the family.

FUN26 (function unknown now 26) protein from saccharomyces cerevisiae is a broad selectivity, high affinity, nucleoside and nucleobase transporter

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs) are polytopic integral membrane proteins that transport nucleosides and, to a lesser extent, nucleobases across cell membranes. ENTs modulate efficacy for a range of human therapeutics and function in a diffusion-controlled bidirectional manner. A detailed understanding of ENT function at the molecular level has remained elusive. FUN26 (function unknown now 26) is a putative ENT homolog from S. cerevisiae that is expressed in vacuole membranes. In the present system, proteoliposome studies of purified FUN26 demonstrate robust nucleoside and nucleobase uptake into the luminal volume for a broad range of substrates. This transport activity is sensitive to nucleoside modifications in the C(2')- and C(5')-positions on the ribose sugar and is not stimulated by a membrane pH differential. [(3)H]Adenine nucleobase transport efficiency is increased ∼4-fold relative to nucleosides tested with no observed [(3)H]adenosine or [(3)H]UTP transport. FUN26 mutational studies identified residues that disrupt (G463A or G216A) or modulate (F249I or L390A) transporter function. These results demonstrate that FUN26 has a unique substrate transport profile relative to known ENT family members and that a purified ENT can be reconstituted in proteoliposomes for functional characterization in a defined system.

Fluorescence spectroscopic determination of dipyridamole binding on pancreas-1 tumor cell membrane

BACKGROUND

The traditional method to determine the binding sites of inhibitors bound to nucleoside transporters on cell membrane is the radioactive assay. This method suffers from radiolabel instability and the need to dispose of reactive materials. Fluorescence spectroscopy has been increasingly applied to biochemical analysis due to its high sensitivity and selectivity. We describe fluorescence spectroscopy for the determination of the binding sites of dipyridamole bound to nucleoside transporters on pancreas-1 tumor cell membrane.

METHODS

Pancreas-1 tumor cell was cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium under appropriate conditions. The cell plasma membrane was separated from the ultrasonically dissolved cell mixture by gradient centrifugation. After dipyridamole was bound to the cell membrane, the test sample was obtained by ultrasonically dissolving the labeled membrane in 10 mmol/l tris-HCl membrane lysis solution. Under selected experimental conditions, the fluorescence intensity of dipyridamole was determined.

RESULTS

At lambda em of 295 nm and lambda em of 485 nm, dipyridamole was proportional to its concentration ranging from 1.0 x 10(-12) to 5.0 x 10(-11) mol/l with a detection limit of 2.8 x 10(-13) mol/l (0.14 pg/ml) at 3sigma. The value of affinity constant of the cell membrane to dipyridamole was 4.7(+/-0.5) x 10(10) l/mol and the average total number of binding sites of a pancreas-1 tumor cell was 1.9(+/-0.2) x 10(6).

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed method can be used in the study of binding characters of dipyridamole on the cell membrane.

Nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBT), a nucleoside transport inhibitor, protects against Shiga toxin cytotoxicity in human microvascular endothelial cells

Infections with Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) cause microvascular endothelial cell damage, resulting in hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The prevention of endothelial cell damage is therefore a crucial step in overcoming this disorder. Here, we report that nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBT), a nucleoside transport inhibitor, has a protective effect against the cytotoxicity of Stxs in human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs). The relative viability of cells treated with 1.5-15 pM of Stx1 was reduced to 10-20% of that without Stx1. However, the viability of cells treated with NBT (10-100 microM) remained higher than 80%, even in the presence of Stx1. NBT also protected against Stx1 cytotoxicity in sodium butyrate-treated hypersensitive HMVECs. The protective effect of NBT against Stx cytotoxicity may be due to the depletion of ATP in the cells, thereby inhibiting the entry of Stx1.

Biomembrane affinity chromatographic analysis of inhibitor binding to the human red cell nucleoside transporter in immobilized cells, vesicles and proteoliposomes

The affinity of the human red cell nucleoside transporter for the transport inhibitor nitrobenzylthioinosine decreases upon protein purification. The affinity was highest for the whole cells (Kd, 0.04 nM), lowered upon cytoskeleton depletion (Kd, 0.2 nM) and lowest after partial purification and reconstitution (Kd, 0.3 nM), as determined by frontal affinity chromatography.