Abstract
Interleukin (IL) 1β is a proinflammatory cytokine known to markedly alter expression of major organic anion transporters in rodent hepatocytes. However, its effects toward human hepatic transporters remain poorly characterized. Therefore, the present study was aimed at determining IL-1β effects on expression of organic anion transporters in primary human hepatocytes and highly differentiated human hepatoma HepaRG cells. Exposure to 1 ng/ml IL-1β was first shown to markedly repress mRNA expression of sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP), a major sinusoidal transporter handling bile acids, in both human hepatocytes and HepaRG cells. It concomitantly reduced NTCP protein levels and NTCP-mediated cellular uptake of taurocholate in HepaRG cells. Other transporters such as the influx transporters organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP)-B, OATP-C, and OATP8 and the efflux pumps multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) 2, MRP3, MRP4, and breast cancer resistance protein were also down-regulated at mRNA levels in human hepatocytes treated by IL-1β for 24 h, and most of these transporters were similarly repressed in IL-1β-exposed HepaRG cells; the cytokine also reduced bile salt export pump (BSEP) and OATP-C protein expression in human hepatocytes. IL-1β was further shown to activate the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) in human hepatocytes and HepaRG cells; however, chemical inhibition of this kinase failed to counteract repressing effects of IL-1β toward NTCP, BSEP, OATP-B, and OATP-C. Taken together, these data indicate that IL-1β treatment reduced expression of major organic anion transporters in human hepatic cells in an ERK-independent manner. Such IL-1β effects may likely participate in both cholestasis and alterations of hepatic detoxification pathways caused by inflammation in humans.
Footnotes
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Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at http://dmd.aspetjournals.org.
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doi:10.1124/dmd.107.016907.
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ABBREVIATIONS: IL, interleukin; SLC, solute carrier; OATP, organic anion transporting polypeptide; ABC, ATP binding cassette; BSEP, bile salt export pump; MRP, multidrug resistance-associated protein; NTCP, sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase; RT-qPCR, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction; CRP, C-reactive protein; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase.
- Received May 28, 2007.
- Accepted November 6, 2007.
- The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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