Transport in technicolor: Mapping ATP‐binding cassette transporters in sea urchin embryos

Abstract

One quarter of eukaryotic genes encode membrane proteins. These include nearly 1000 transporters that translocate nutrients, signaling molecules, and xenobiotics across membranes. While it is well appreciated that membrane transport is critical for development, the specific roles of many transporters have remained cryptic, in part because of their abundance and the diversity of their substrates. Multi-drug resistance ATP-binding cassette (ABC) efflux transporters are one example of cryptic membrane proteins. Although most organisms utilize these ABC transporters during embryonic development, many of these transporters have broad substrate specificity, and their developmental functions remain incompletely understood. Here, we review advances in our understanding of ABC transporters in sea urchin embryos, and methods developed to spatially and temporally map these proteins. These studies reveal that multifunctional transporters are required for signaling, homeostasis, and protection of the embryo, and shed light on how they are integrated into ancestral developmental pathways recapitulated in disease.

The first characterization of multidrug and toxin extrusion (MATE/SLC47) proteins in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

“…Using the sea urchin embryo model they showed that pharmacological inhibition of the corresponding efflux activity sensitized embryos to the toxic compound vinblastine, implying that one role for the efflux transport activity is embryo protection from xenobiotics. Likewise, follow-up studies reveal that polyspecific membrane transporters are required for signaling, homeostasis, and protection of the embryo 43 . In zebrafish, Fischer et al .…”

ABCG2 confers promotion in gastric cancer through modulating downstream CRKL in vitro combining with biostatistics mining

“…ABC transporters apply intracellular ATP hydrolysis, mediate drug efflux and protect cells from the damages induced by xenobiotics and toxins [17, 18]. Characteristics of this contributes a sort of critical mechanism of MDR in human malignancy, and members of this family are frequently over-expressed in cancer [19, 20].…”

Mechanisms of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in sea urchin embryos

“…129 Accordingly, recent tentative results of the in situ hybridization SUGSP database in S. purpuratus have demonstrated the expression of 82 genes in NSMCs. Three genes are expressed at the 10-hpf blastula stage, 65 genes are expressed in the period immediately before and during the EMT, and another 14 genes are expressed after the EMT (Table 3-1,2).…”