Michael F. Romero

Cloning and characterization of a mammalian proton-coupled metal-ion transporter

Metal ions are essential cofactors for a wealth of biological processes, including oxidative phosphorylation, gene regulation and free-radical homeostasis. Failure to maintain appropriate levels of metal ions in humans is a feature of hereditary haemochromatosis, disorders of metal-ion deficiency, and certain neurodegenerative diseases. Despite their pivotal physiological roles, however, there is no molecular information on how metal ions are actively absorbed by mammalian cells. We have now identified a new metal-ion transporter in the rat, DCT1, which has an unusually broad substrate range that includes Fe2+, Zn2+, Mn2+, Co2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Ni2+ and Pb2+. DCT1 mediates active transport that is proton-coupled and depends on the cell membrane potential. It is a 561-amino-acid protein with 12 putative membrane-spanning domains and is ubiquitously expressed, most notably in the proximal duodenum. DCT1 is upregulated by dietary iron deficiency, and may represent a key mediator of intestinal iron absorption. DCT1 is a member of the ‘natural-resistance-associated macrophage protein’ (Nramp) family and thus its properties provide insight into how these proteins confer resistance to pathogens.

The ABCs of solute carriers: physiological, pathological and therapeutic implications of human membrane transport proteins

The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Nomenclature Committee Database provides a list of transporter families of the solute carrier (SLC) gene series (see http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature/). Currently, it includes 43 families and 298 transporter genes. This special issue features mini-reviews on each of these SLC families written by the experts in each field. A WEB site has been established (http://www.pharmaconference.org/slctable.asp) that gives the latest updates for the SLC families and their members as well as relevant links to gene databases and reviews in the literature. A list of all currently known SLC families, a discussion of additional SLC families and family members as well as a brief summary of non-SLC transporter genes is included in this introduction.

The SLC4 family of HCO3 − transporters

The SLC4 family consists of ten genes. All appear to encode integral membrane proteins with very similar hydropathy plots—consistent with the presence of 10–14 transmembrane segments. At least eight SLC4 members encode proteins that transport HCO3− (or a related species, such as CO32−) across the plasma membrane. Functionally, these eight proteins fall into two major groups: three Cl-HCO3 exchangers (AE1–3) and five Na+-coupled HCO3− transporters (NBCe1, NBCe2, NBCn1, NDCBE, NCBE). Two of the Na+-coupled HCO3− transporters (NBCe1, NBCe2) are electrogenic; the other three Na+-coupled HCO3− transporters and all three AEs are electroneutral. At least NDCBE transports Cl− in addition to Na+ and HCO3−. Whether NCBE transports Cl–—in addition to Na+ and HCO3−—is unsettled. In addition, two other SLC4 members (AE4 and BTR1) do not yet have a firmly established function; on the basis of homology, they fall between the two major groups. A characteristic of many, though not all, SLC4 members is inhibition by 4,4′-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2′-disulfonate (DIDS). SLC4 gene products play important roles in the carriage of CO2 by erythrocytes, the absorption or secretion of H+ or HCO3− by several epithelia, as well as the regulation of cell volume and intracellular pH.

Effect of expressing the water channel aquaporin-1 on the CO2 permeability of Xenopus oocytes

It is generally accepted that gases such as CO2 cross cell membranes by dissolving in the membrane lipid. No role for channels or pores in gas transport has ever been demonstrated. Here we ask whether expression of the water channel aquaporin-1 (AQP1) enhances the CO2 permeability of Xenopus oocytes. We expressed AQP1 in Xenopus oocytes by injecting AQP1 cRNA, and we assessed CO2permeability by using microelectrodes to monitor the changes in intracellular pH (pHi) produced by adding 1.5% CO2/10 mM[Formula: see text] to (or removing it from) the extracellular solution. Oocytes normally have an undetectably low level of carbonic anhydrase (CA), which eliminates the CO2 hydration reaction as a rate-limiting step. We found that expressing AQP1 (vs. injecting water) had no measurable effect on the rate of CO2-induced pHi changes in such low-CA oocytes: adding CO2 caused pHi to fall at a mean initial rate of 11.3 × 10-4 pH units/s in control oocytes and 13.3 × 10-4 pH units/s in oocytes expressing AQP1. When we injected oocytes with water, and a few days later with CA, the CO2-induced pHi changes in these water/CA oocytes were more than fourfold faster than in water-injected oocytes (acidification rate, 53 × 10-4 pH units/s). Ethoxzolamide (ETX; 10 μM), a membrane-permeant CA inhibitor, greatly slowed the pHi changes (16.5 × 10-4 pH units/s). When we injected oocytes with AQP1 cRNA and then CA, the CO2-induced pHi changes in these AQP1/CA oocytes were ∼40% faster than in the water/CA oocytes (75 × 10-4 pH units/s), and ETX reduced the rates substantially (14.7 × 10-4 pH units/s). Thus, in the presence of CA, AQP1 expression significantly increases the CO2 permeability of oocyte membranes. Possible explanations include 1) AQP1 expression alters the lipid composition of the cell membrane, 2) AQP1 expression causes overexpression of a native gas channel, and/or 3) AQP1 acts as a channel through which CO2 can permeate. Even if AQP1 should mediate a CO2 flux, it would remain to be determined whether this CO2movement is quantitatively important.

SLC5A8, a sodium transporter, is a tumor suppressor gene silenced by methylation in human colon aberrant crypt foci and cancers

We identify a gene, SLC5A8, and show it is a candidate tumor suppressor gene whose silencing by aberrant methylation is a common and early event in human colon neoplasia. Aberrant DNA methylation has been implicated as a component of an epigenetic mechanism that silences genes in human cancers. Using restriction landmark genome scanning, we performed a global search to identify genes that would be aberrantly methylated at high frequency in human colon cancer. From among 1,231 genomic NotI sites assayed, site 3D41 was identified as methylated in 11 of 12 colon cancers profiled. Site 3D41 mapped to exon 1 of SLC5A8, a transcript that we assembled. In normal colon mucosa we found that SLC5A8 exon 1 is unmethylated and SLC5A8 transcript is expressed. In contrast, SLC5A8 exon 1 proved to be aberrantly methylated in 59% of primary colon cancers and 52% of colon cancer cell lines. SLC5A8 exon 1 methylated cells were uniformly silenced for SLC5A8 expression, but reactivated expression on treatment with a demethylating drug, 5-azacytidine. Transfection of SLC5A8 suppressed colony growth in each of three SLC5A8-deficient cell lines, but showed no suppressive effect in any of three SLC5A8-proficient cell lines. SLC5A8 exon 1 methylation is an early event, detectable in colon adenomas, and in even earlier microscopic colonic aberrant crypt foci. Structural homology and functional testing demonstrated that SLC5A8 is a member of the family of sodium solute symporters, which are now added as a class of candidate colon cancer suppressor genes.

Molecular outcomes of neuromyelitis optica (NMO)-IgG binding to aquaporin-4 in astrocytes

The astrocytic aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channel is the target of pathogenic antibodies in a spectrum of relapsing autoimmune inflammatory central nervous system disorders of varying severity that is unified by detection of the serum biomarker neuromyelitis optica (NMO)-IgG. Neuromyelitis optica is the most severe of these disorders. The two major AQP4 isoforms, M1 and M23, have identical extracellular residues. This report identifies two novel properties of NMO-IgG as determinants of pathogenicity. First, the binding of NMO-IgG to the ectodomain of astrocytic AQP4 has isoform-specific outcomes. M1 is completely internalized, but M23 resists internalization and is aggregated into larger-order orthogonal arrays of particles that activate complement more effectively than M1 when bound by NMO-IgG. Second, NMO-IgG binding to either isoform impairs water flux directly, independently of antigen down-regulation. We identified, in nondestructive central nervous system lesions of two NMO patients, two previously unappreciated histopathological correlates supporting the clinical relevance of our in vitro findings: (i) reactive astrocytes with persistent foci of surface AQP4 and (ii) vacuolation in adjacent myelin consistent with edema. The multiple molecular outcomes identified as a consequence of NMO-IgG interaction with AQP4 plausibly account for the diverse pathological features of NMO: edema, inflammation, demyelination, and necrosis. Differences in the nature and anatomical distribution of NMO lesions, and in the clinical and imaging manifestations of disease documented in pediatric and adult patients, may be influenced by regional and maturational differences in the ratio of M1 to M23 proteins in astrocytic membranes.

Immunolocalization of the electrogenic Na+-HCO3/- cotransporter in mammalian and amphibian kidney

Electrogenic cotransport of Na+ and[Formula: see text] is a crucial element of[Formula: see text] reabsorption in the renal proximal tubule (PT). An electrogenic Na+-[Formula: see text]cotransporter (NBC) has recently been cloned from salamander and rat kidney. In the present study, we generated polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) to NBC and used them to characterize NBC on the protein level by immunochemical methods. We generated pAbs in guinea pigs and rabbits by immunizing with a fusion protein containing the carboxy-terminal 108 amino acids (amino acids 928-1035) of rat kidney NBC (rkNBC). By indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, the pAbs strongly labeled HEK-293 cells transiently expressing NBC, but not in untransfected cells. By immunoblotting, the pAbs recognized a ∼130-kDa band in Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing rkNBC, but not in control oocytes injected with water or cRNA for the Cl-/[Formula: see text]exchanger AE2. In immunoblotting experiments on renal microsomes, the pAbs specifically labeled a major band at ∼130 kDa in both rat and rabbit, as well as a single ∼160-kDa band in salamander kidney. By indirect immunofluorescence microscopy on 0.5-μm cryosections of rat and rabbit kidneys fixed in paraformaldehyde-lysine-periodate (PLP), the pAbs produced a strong and exclusively basolateral staining of the PT. In the salamander kidney, the pAbs labeled only weakly the basolateral membrane of the PT. In contrast, we observed strong basolateral labeling in the late distal tubule, but not in the early distal tubule. The specificity of the pAbs for both immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry was confirmed in antibody preabsorption experiments using either the fusion protein used for immunization or similarly prepared control fusion proteins. In summary, we have developed antibodies specific for NBC, determined the apparent molecular weights of rat, rabbit, and salamander kidney NBC proteins, and described the localization of NBC within the kidney of these mammalian and amphibian species.

The human tumour suppressor gene SLC5A8 expresses a Na+–monocarboxylate cotransporter

The orphan cotransport protein expressed by the SLC5A8 gene has been shown to play a role in controlling the growth of colon cancers, and the silencing of this gene is a common and early event in human colon neoplasia. We expressed this protein in Xenopus laevis oocytes and have found that it transports small monocarboxylic acids. The electrogenic activity of the cotransporter, which we have named SMCT (sodium monocarboxylate transporter), was dependent on external Na+ and was compatible with a 3 : 1 stoichiometry between Na+ and monocarboxylates. A portion of the SMCT‐mediated current was also Cl− dependent, but Cl− was not cotransported. SMCT transports a variety of monocarboxylates (similar to unrelated monocarboxylate transport proteins) and most transported monocarboxylates demonstrated Km values near 100 μm, apart from acetate and d‐lactate, for which the protein showed less affinity. SMCT was strongly inhibited by 1 mm probenecid or ibuprofen. In the absence of external substrate, a Na+‐independent leak current was also observed to pass through SMCT. SMCT activity was strongly inhibited after prolonged exposure to high external concentrations of monocarboxylates. The transport of monocarboxylates in anionic form was confirmed by the observation of a concomitant alkalinization of the cytosol. SMCT, being expressed in colon and kidney, represents a novel means by which Na+, short‐chain fatty acids and other monocarboxylates are transported in these tissues. The significance of a Na+–monocarboxylate transporter to colon cancer presumably stems from the transport of butyrate, which is well known for having anti‐proliferative and apoptosis‐inducing activity in colon epithelial cells.

Cloning and characterization of a Na+-driven anion exchanger (NDAE1). A new bicarbonate transporter.

Regulation of intra- and extracellular ion activities (e.g. H+, Cl−, Na+) is key to normal function of the central nervous system, digestive tract, respiratory tract, and urinary system. With our cloning of an electrogenic Na+/HCO3 − cotransporter (NBC), we found that NBC and the anion exchangers form a bicarbonate transporter superfamily. Functionally three other HCO3 −transporters are known: a neutral Na+/ HCO3 − cotransporter, a K+/ HCO3 − cotransporter, and a Na+-dependent Cl−-HCO3 − exchanger. We report the cloning and characterization of a Na+-coupled Cl−-HCO3 − exchanger and a physiologically unique bicarbonate transporter superfamily member. ThisDrosophila cDNA encodes a 1030-amino acid membrane protein with both sequence homology and predicted topology similar to the anion exchangers and NBCs. The mRNA is expressed throughoutDrosophila development and is prominent in the central nervous system. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, this membrane protein mediates the transport of Cl−, Na+, H+, and HCO3 − but does not require HCO3 −. Transport is blocked by the stilbene 4,4′-diisothiocyanodihydrostilbene- 2,2′-disulfonates and may not be strictly electroneutral. Our functional data suggest thisNa+ driven anionexchanger (NDAE1) is responsible for the Na+-dependent Cl−-HCO3 − exchange activity characterized in neurons, kidney, and fibroblasts. NDAE1 may be generally important for fly development, because disruption of this gene is apparently lethal to the Drosophila larva.

Divalent metal-ion transporter DMT1 mediates both H+ -coupled Fe2+ transport and uncoupled fluxes

The H+ -coupled divalent metal-ion transporter DMT1 serves as both the primary entry point for iron into the body (intestinal brush-border uptake) and the route by which transferrin-associated iron is mobilized from endosomes to cytosol in erythroid precursors and other cells. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of DMT1 will therefore increase our understanding of iron metabolism and the etiology of iron overload disorders. We expressed wild type and mutant DMT1 in Xenopus oocytes and monitored metal-ion uptake, currents and intracellular pH. DMT1 was activated in the presence of an inwardly directed H+ electrochemical gradient. At low extracellular pH (pHo), H+ binding preceded binding of Fe2+ and its simultaneous translocation. However, DMT1 did not behave like a typical ion-coupled transporter at higher pHo, and at pHo 7.4 we observed Fe2+ transport that was not associated with H+ influx. His272 → Ala substitution uncoupled the Fe2+ and H+ fluxes. At low pHo, H272A mediated H+ uniport that was inhibited by Fe2+. Meanwhile H272A-mediated Fe2+ transport was independent of pHo. Our data indicate (i) that H+ coupling in DMT1 serves to increase affinity for Fe2+ and provide a thermodynamic driving force for Fe2+ transport and (ii) that His-272 is critical in transducing the effects of H+ coupling. Notably, our data also indicate that DMT1 can mediate facilitative Fe2+ transport in the absence of a H+ gradient. Since plasma membrane expression of DMT1 is upregulated in liver of hemochromatosis patients, this H+ -uncoupled facilitative Fe2+ transport via DMT1 can account for the uptake of nontransferrin-bound plasma iron characteristic of iron overload disorders.