J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 267, Issue 35, 25153-25159, 12, 1992
Identification of residues in the first cytoplasmic loop of P- glycoprotein involved in the function of chimeric human MDR1-MDR2 transporters
SJ Currier, SE Kane, MC Willingham, CO Cardarelli, I Pastan and MM Gottesman
Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
The human MDR1 gene encodes the multidrug transporter (P-glycoprotein), a
multidrug efflux pump. The highly homologous MDR2 gene product does not
appear to be a functional multidrug pump. We have constructed a chimeric
protein in which the first intracytoplasmic loop and the third and fourth
transmembrane domains of the MDR1 protein were replaced by the analogous
region of MDR2. Substitution of the MDR2 sequences encompassing amino acid
residues 140 to 229 resulted in 17 amino acid changes, 10 in the
intracytoplasmic loop (amino acids 141-188) and 7 in the transmembrane
regions. This chimeric protein was expressed on the surface of NIH 3T3
cells where it bound [3H]azidopine but did not confer drug resistance. When
only 4 residues, 165, 166, 168, and 169, were changed back to MDR1 amino
acids, a functional drug transporter was recovered. When residues 165, 166,
168, and 169 from MDR2 were substituted into a functional MDR1 cDNA, the
resulting construction was not able to confer drug resistance. These
results indicate that the major functional differences between MDR1 and
MDR2 in this region of P- glycoprotein reside in a small segment of the
first intracytoplasmic loop. We also independently analyzed the effect of
replacing Asn183 of MDR1 with Ser which occurs in MDR2. Substitution of Ser
at position 183 in combination with Val at position 185 in P-glycoprotein
resulted in a relative increase in resistance to actinomycin D,
vinblastine, and doxorubicin in transfected NIH 3T3 cells. These results
emphasize the importance of the first intracytoplasmic loop in
P-glycoprotein in determining function and relative drug specificity of the
transporter.