P-glycoprotein is a highly conserved membrane protein shown to be overexpressed in many multidrugresistant tumor cell lines. P-glycoprotein is encoded by a small gene family in mammalian cells. Class I and II isoforms cause multidrug resistance, whereas class m does not. In this report, we have characterized three P-glycoprotein-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) by high-resolution epitope mapping with a series of hexapeptides. mAb C494 is gene specific, binding to a sequence present only in the class I isoform of hamster and human. The mAb C32 recognizes a sequence conserved in hamster class I and II isoforms but not in class III isoforms. In contrast, the mAb C219 recognizes a highly conserved amino acid sequence found in all P-glycoprotein isoforms characterized to date. These mAbs were used to reveal differential expression and specific localization of the three P-glycoprotein isoforms in hamster tissues by immunohistochemical staining and competition with epitope-specific peptides. Colonic epithelial cells expressed predominantly the class I isoform in a polarized manner, adrenal cortical cells expressed predominantly the class II isoform, whereas a small percentage of skeletal muscle fibers expressed the class III isoform of Pglycoprotein. These findings suggest that the P-glycoprotein isoforms have distinct physiological roles associated with specialized cell functions.The development of multidrug-resistant tumor cells during malignant progression may be a major factor contributing to nonresponse in chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer. The increased expression of the membrane P-glycoprotein (Pgp; Mr, 170,000) is the most consistent change seen in multidrugresistant cells in vitro, and gene transfer studies have shown this change to cause multidrug resistance (MDR) (1-3). The role of Pgp as an energy-dependent efflux pump was proposed from its primary sequence and structural similarity to many membrane-associated transport proteins-most notably, the bacterial transport protein hemolysin B (4-6). The presence of Pgp or its mRNA transcript has been demonstrated in a variety of human malignant tumors, and Pgp may play a role in limiting a patient's response to chemotherapy (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). Pgp is also found in certain normal tissues, including large intestine, adrenal glands, kidney, liver, and brain (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18); such localization has led to the speculation that this glycoprotein is involved in normal detoxification and transport of lipophilic molecules.Recent data indicate that Pgp is encoded by a family of three genes in rodent and two genes in human (19). A comparison of the amino acid sequences among the different gene family members, or isoforms, indicates a similar overall structure (20). However, transfection studies that used fulllength cDNAs have suggested that only some Pgp isoforms confer a MDR phenotype on otherwise drug-sensitive cells (19,21). Thus, the class I and II isoforms have been directly implicated in drug resistance, whereas the function of the class III...

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An ethnopharmacological investigation was conducted among the Baka pygmies of Dja biosphere reserve (Cameroon) to collect information on the antimalarial plants used in their daily life. Holarrhena floribunda is one of those plants. Extracts of the stem barks of H. floribunda showed remarkable inhibitory activity against drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum at doses of 1.02-18.53 microg/mL when tested in vitro against two parasite clones designated as Indochina (W-2) and Sierra Leone (D-6). The aqueous extract was the most active against Indochina (W-2), with IC50 values of 1.02 microg/mL, while the ethanolic extract appeared to be the most active against Sierra Leone (D-6), with an IC50 of 4.33 microg/mL. The bioassay-guided fractionation of the neutral fraction of the crude extract led to the isolation of lupeol (1) and its three new long-chain fatty acid ester derivatives, namely, 3-O-(3'-hydroxyeicosanoyl)lupeol (2), 3-O-[(2'-(tetracosyloxy)acetyl]lupeol (3), and 3-O-[(1' '-hydroxyoctadecyloxy)-2'-hydroxypropanoyl]lupeol (4). These new compounds displayed some in vitro inhibition activity against the chloroquine-resistant strain FCR-3 isolated from Gambia and the chloroquine-sensitive standard strain 3D7. The hydroxy group of the fatty acid side chain appears to decrease the observed activity.

The mechanisms of MRP1-drug binding and transport are not clear. In this study, we have characterized the interaction between MRP1 and rhodamine 123 (Rh123) using the photoreactive-iodinated analogue, [(125)I]iodoaryl azido-rhodamine 123 (or IAARh123). Photoaffinity labeling of plasma membranes from HeLa cells transfected with MRP1 cDNA (HeLa-MRP1) with IAARh123 shows the photolabeling of a 190 kDa polypeptide not labeled in HeLa cells transfected with the vector alone. Immunoprecipitation of a 190 kDa photolabeled protein with MRP1-sepcific monoclonal antibodies (QCRL-1, MRPr1, and MRPm6) confirmed the identity of this protein as MRP1. Analysis of MRP1-IAARh123 interactions showed that photolabeling of membranes from HeLa-MRP1 with increasing concentrations of IAARh123 was saturable, and was inhibited with excess of IAARh123. Furthermore, the photoaffinity labeling of MRP1 with IAARh123 was greatly reduced in the presence of excess Leukotreine C(4) or MK571, but to a lesser extent with excess doxorubicin, colchicine or chloroquine. Cell growth assays showed 5-fold and 14-fold increase in the IC(50) of HeLa-MRP1 to Rh123 and the Etoposide VP16 relative to HeLa cells, respectively. Analysis of Rh123 fluorescence in HeLa and HeLa-MRP1 cells with or without ATP suggests that cross-resistance to Rh123 is in part due to reduced drug accumulation in the cytosol of HeLa-MRP1 cells. Mild digestion of purified IAARh123-photolabeled MRP1 with trypsin showed two large polypeptides (approximately 111 and approximately 85 kDa) resulting from cleavage in the linker domain (L1) connecting the multiple-spanning domains MSD0 and MSD1 to MSD2. Exhaustive proteolysis of purified IAARh123-labeled 85 and 111 kDa polypeptides revealed one (6 kDa) and two (approximately 6 plus 4 kDa) photolabeled peptides, respectively. Resolution of total tryptic digest of IAARh123-labeled MRP1 by HPLC showed three radiolabeled peaks consistent with the three Staphylococcus aureus V8 cleaved peptides from the Cleveland maps. Together, the results of this study show direct binding of IAARh123 to three sites that localize to the N- and C-domains of MRP1. Moreover, IAARh123 provides a sensitive and specific probe to study MRP1-drug interactions.