Novel affinity-purified antibodies against human SGLT1 (hSGLT1) and SGLT2 (hSGLT2) were used to localize hSGLT2 in human kidney and hSGLT1 in human kidney, small intestine, liver, lung, and heart. ...The renal locations of both transporters largely resembled those in rats and mice; hSGLT2 and SGLT1 were localized to the brush border membrane (BBM) of proximal tubule S1/S2 and S3 segments, respectively. Different to rodents, the renal expression of hSGLT1 was absent in thick ascending limb of Henle (TALH) and macula densa, and the expression of both hSGLTs was sex-independent. In small intestinal enterocytes, hSGLT1 was localized to the BBM and subapical vesicles. Performing double labeling with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) or glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), hSGLT1 was localized to GLP-1-secreting L cells and GIP-secreting K cells as has been shown in mice. In liver, hSGLT1 was localized to biliary duct cells as has been shown in rats. In lung, hSGLT1 was localized to alveolar epithelial type 2 cells and to bronchiolar Clara cells. Expression of hSGLT1 in Clara cells was verified by double labeling with the Clara cell secretory protein CC10. Double labeling of human heart with aquaporin 1 immunolocalized the hSGLT1 protein in heart capillaries rather than in previously assumed myocyte sarcolemma. The newly identified locations of hSGLT1 implicate several extra renal functions of this transporter, such as fluid absorption in the lung, energy supply to Clara cells, regulation of enteroendocrine cells secretion, and release of glucose from heart capillaries. These functions may be blocked by reversible SGLT1 inhibitors which are under development.
Metallothioneins are cysteine-rich, small metal-binding proteins present in various mammalian tissues. Of the four common metallothioneins, MT-1 and MT-2 (MTs) are expressed in most tissues, MT-3 is ...predominantly present in brain, whereas MT-4 is restricted to the squamous epithelia. The expression of MT-1 and MT-2 in some organs exhibits sex, age, and strain differences, and inducibility with a variety of stimuli. In adult mammals, MTs have been localized largely in the cell cytoplasm, but also in lysosomes, mitochondria and nuclei. The major physiological functions of MTs include homeostasis of essential metals Zn and Cu, protection against cytotoxicity of Cd and other toxic metals, and scavenging free radicals generated in oxidative stress. The role of MTs in Cd-induced acute and chronic toxicity, particularly in liver and kidneys, is reviewed in more details. In acute toxicity, liver is the primary target, whereas in chronic toxicity, kidneys are major targets of Cd. The intracellular MTs bind Cd ions and form CdMT. In chronic intoxication, Cd stimulates de novo synthesis of MTs; it is assumed that toxicity in the cells starts when loading with Cd ions exceeds the buffering capacity of intracellular MTs. CdMT, released from the Cd-injured organs, or when applied parenterally for experimental purposes, reaches the kidneys via circulation, where it is filtered, endocytosed in the proximal tubule cells, and degraded in lysosomes. Liberated Cd can immediately affect the cell structures and functions. The resulting proteinuria and CdMT in the urine can be used as biomarkers of tubular injury.
The expression and localization of sodium-
d
-glucose cotransporter SGLT1 (
SLC5A1
), which is involved in small intestinal glucose absorption and renal glucose reabsorption, is of high biomedical ...relevance because SGLT1 inhibitors are currently tested for antidiabetic therapy. In human and rat organs, detailed expression profiling of SGLT1/Sglt1 mRNA and immunolocalization of the transporter protein has been performed. Using polyspecific antibodies and preabsorption with antigenic peptide as specificity control, in several organs, different immunolocalizations of SGLT1/Sglt1 between human and rat were obtained. Because the preabsorption control does not exclude cross-reactivity with similar epitopes, some localizations remained ambiguous. In the present study, we performed an immunocytochemical localization of Sglt1 in various organs of mice. Specificities of the immunoreactions were evaluated using antibody preabsorption with the Sglt1 peptide and the respective organs of
Sglt1
knockout mice. Because staining in some locations was abolished after antibody preabsorption but remained in the knockout mice, missing staining in knockout mice was used as specificity criterion. The immunolocalization in mouse was identical or similar to rat in many organs, including small intestine, liver, and kidney. However, the male-dominant renal Sglt1 protein expression in mice differed from the female-dominant expression in rats, and localization in lung, heart, and brain observed in rats was not detected in mice. In mice, several novel locations of Sglt1, e.g., in eyes, tongue epithelial cells, pancreatic ducts, prostate, and periurethral glands were detected. Using end-point and quantitative RT-PCR in various organs, different Sglt1 expression in mice and rats was confirmed.
Various metals of unknown function in the body (Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, U), trace elements in excessive concentrations (Co, Cu, Fe, Zn), or metals used in cancer therapy (Pt, V), accumulate in the mammalian ...kidney, largely in the proximal tubule (PT) cells, and cause functional and structural damage that results in reabsorptive and secretory defects. The intracellular mechanisms of their toxicity in the PT cells are not well known. Recent studies have indicated an oxidative stress with associated lipid peroxidation, apoptosis, and necrosis as common phenomena in the course of nephrotoxicity of these metals. However, a number of other phenomena, such as the selective inhibition and/or loss of various membrane transporters, enhancement of ion conductances, increased cytoplasmic concentration of calcium, deranged cytoskeleton and cell polarity, impaired endocytosis, swelling and fragmentation of mitochondria, increased expression of metallothionein, heat-shock and multidrug resistance proteins, loss of cell membrane integrity, as well as the damage of mitochondrial and genomic DNAs have been fragmentarily demonstrated for the action of some toxic metals, but their importance for the course of nephrotoxicity and the sequence of events in relation to oxidative stress, apoptosis, and necrosis have not been clearly established. Recent studies of metal toxicity in various tissues and cells of non-renal and renal origin enable us to estimate 'causes and consequences' of various phenomena in the metal-induced nephrotoxicity, and to assemble them in a possible common, time-related sequence.
With a novel antibody against the rat Na(+)-D-glucose cotransporter SGLT2 (rSGLT2-Ab), which does not cross-react with rSGLT1 or rSGLT3, the ∼75-kDa rSGLT2 protein was localized to the brush-border ...membrane (BBM) of the renal proximal tubule S1 and S2 segments (S1 > S2) with female-dominant expression in adult rats, whereas rSglt2 mRNA expression was similar in both sexes. Castration of adult males increased the abundance of rSGLT2 protein; this increase was further enhanced by estradiol and prevented by testosterone treatment. In the renal BBM vesicles, the rSGLT1-independent uptake of (14)C-α-methyl-D-glucopyranoside was similar in females and males, suggesting functional contribution of another Na(+)-D-glucose cotransporter to glucose reabsorption. Since immunoreactivity of rSGLT2-Ab could not be detected with certainty in rat extrarenal organs, the SGLT2 protein was immunocharacterized with the same antibody in wild-type (WT) mice, with SGLT2-deficient (Sglt2 knockout) mice as negative control. In WT mice, renal localization of mSGLT2 protein was similar to that in rats, whereas in extrarenal organs neither mSGLT2 protein nor mSglt2 mRNA expression was detected. At variance to the findings in rats, the abundance of mSGLT2 protein in the mouse kidneys was male dominant, whereas the expression of mSglt2 mRNA was female dominant. Our results indicate that in rodents the expression of SGLT2 is kidney-specific and point to distinct sex and species differences in SGLT2 protein expression that cannot be explained by differences in mRNA.
The orphan transporter hORCTL3 (human organic cation transporter like 3; SLC22A13) is highly expressed in kidneys and to a weaker extent in brain, heart, and intestine. hORCTL3-expressing Xenopus ...laevis oocytes showed uptake of 3Hnicotinate, 3Hp-aminohippurate, and 14Curate. Hence, hORCTL3 is an organic anion transporter, and we renamed it hOAT10. 3HNicotinate transport by hOAT10 into X. laevis oocytes and into Caco-2 cells was saturable with Michaelis constants (Km) of 22 and 44 μm, respectively, suggesting that hOAT10 may be the molecular equivalent of the postulated high affinity nicotinate transporter in kidneys and intestine. The pH dependence of hOAT10 suggests p-aminohippurate–/OH–, urate–/OH–, and nicotinate–/OH– exchange as possible transport modes. Urate inhibited 3Hnicotinate transport by hOAT10 with an IC50 value of 759 μm, assuming that hOAT10 represents a low affinity urate transporter. hOAT10-mediated 14Curate uptake was elevated by an exchange with l -lactate, pyrazinoate, and nicotinate. Surprisingly, we have detected urate–/glutathione exchange by hOAT10, consistent with an involvement of hOAT10 in the renal glutathione cycle. Uricosurics, diuretics, and cyclosporine A showed substantial interactions with hOAT10, of which cyclosporine A enhanced 14Curate uptake, providing the first molecular evidence for cyclosporine A-induced hyperuricemia.
Glucose, the key source of metabolic energy, is imported into cells by two categories of transporters: 1) facilitative glucose transporters (GLUTs) and 2) secondary active sodium-glucose ...cotransporters (SGLTs). Cancer cells have an increased demand for glucose uptake and utilisation compared to normal cells. Previous studies have demonstrated the overexpression of GLUTs, mainly GLUT1, in many cancer types. As the current standard positron emission tomography (PET) tracer 2-deoxy-2-(
F)fluoro-D-glucose (2-FDG) for imaging tumour cells via GLUT1 lacks in sensitivity and specificity, it may soon be replaced by the newly designed, highly sensitive and specific SGLT tracer α-methyl-4-(F-18)fluoro-4-deoxy-Dglucopyranoside (Me-4FDG) in clinical detection and tumour staging. This tracer has recently demonstrated the functional activity of SGLT in pancreatic, prostate, and brain cancers. The mRNA and protein expression of SGLTs have also been reported in colon/colorectal, lung, ovarian, head, neck, and oral squamous carcinomas. So far, SGLTs have been poorly investigated in cancer, and their protein expression and localisation are often controversial due to a lack of specific SGLT antibodies. In this review, we describe current knowledge concerning SGLT1 and SGLT2 (over)expression in various cancer types. The findings of SGLTs in malignant cells may help in developing novel cancer therapies with SGLT2 or SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitors already used in diabetes mellitus treatment.
The initial step in renal secretion of organic anions (OAs) is mediated by transporters in the basolateral membrane (BLM). Contributors to this process are primary active Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase (EC ...3.6.3.9), secondary active Na(+)-dicarboxylate cotransporter 3 (NaDC3/SLC13A3), and tertiary active OA transporters (OATs) OAT1/SLC22A6, OAT2/SLC22A7, and OAT3/SLC22A8. In human kidneys, we analyzed the localization of these transporters by immunochemical methods in tissue cryosections and isolated membranes. The specificity of antibodies was validated with human embryonic kidney-293 cells stably transfected with functional OATs. Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase was immunolocalized to the BLM along the entire human nephron. NaDC3-related immunostaining was detected in the BLM of proximal tubules and in the BLM and/or luminal membrane of principal cells in connecting segments and collecting ducts. The thin and thick ascending limbs, macula densa, and distal tubules exhibited no reactivity with the anti-NaDC3 antibody. OAT1-OAT3-related immunostaining in human kidneys was detected only in the BLM of cortical proximal tubules; all three OATs were stained more intensely in S1/S2 segments compared with S3 segment in medullary rays, whereas the S3 segment in the outer stripe remained unstained. Expression of NaDC3, OAT1, OAT2, and OAT3 proteins exhibited considerable interindividual variability in both male and female kidneys, and sex differences in their expression could not be detected. Our experiments provide a side-by-side comparison of basolateral transporters cooperating in renal OA secretion in the human kidney.
In enterocytes, protein RS1 (RSC1A1) mediates an increase of glucose absorption after ingestion of glucose-rich food via upregulation of Na+-d-glucose cotransporter SGLT1 in the brush-border membrane ...(BBM). Whereas RS1 decelerates the exocytotic pathway of vesicles containing SGLT1 at low glucose levels between meals, RS1-mediated deceleration is relieved after ingestion of glucose-rich food. Regulation of SGLT1 is mediated by RS1 domain RS1-Reg, in which Gln-Ser-Pro (QSP) is effective. In contrast to QSP and RS1-Reg, Gln-Glu-Pro (QEP) and RS1-Reg with a serine to glutamate exchange in the QSP motif downregulate the abundance of SGLT1 in the BBM at high intracellular glucose concentrations by about 50%. We investigated whether oral application of QEP improves diabetes in db/db mice and affects the induction of diabetes in New Zealand obese (NZO) mice under glucolipotoxic conditions. After 6-day administration of drinking water containing 5 mM QEP to db/db mice, fasting glucose was decreased, increase of blood glucose in the oral glucose tolerance test was blunted, and insulin sensitivity was increased. When QEP was added for several days to a high fat/high carbohydrate diet that induced diabetes in NZO mice, the increase of random plasma glucose was prevented, accompanied by lower plasma insulin levels. QEP is considered a lead compound for development of new antidiabetic drugs with more rapid cellular uptake. In contrast to SGLT1 inhibitors, QEP-based drugs may be applied in combination with insulin for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, decreasing the required insulin amount, and thereby may reduce the risk of hypoglycemia.
Cadmium (Cd)-intoxicated experimental animals exhibit impaired renal secretion of organic anions (OA) and cations (OC), indicating their transporters (Oats and Octs) in the proximal tubule (PT) ...basolateral membrane as possible targets of Cd. To correlate transport data from the literature with the expression of relevant transporters, we performed immunochemical and RT-PCR studies of renal Oats and Octs in the subchronic (treatment with CdCl
2
; 2 mg Cd/kg b.m./day, for 2 weeks) and acute (treatment with Cd-metallothionein (CdMT); 0.4 mg Cd/kg b.m., 6 or 12 h before killing) models of Cd nephrotoxicity. In the subchronic model, PT exhibited a minor loss of basolateral invaginations and overall unchanged expression of Na
+
/K
+
-ATPase and GAPDH proteins and mRNAs, while the expression of Oat and Oct proteins and their mRNAs was strongly downregulated. In the acute model, a time-related redistribution of basolateral transporters to the intracellular vesicular compartment was a major finding. However, 6 h following CdMT treatment, the total abundance of Oat and Oct proteins in the renal tissue remained unchanged, the expression of mRNAs decreased only for Oats, while a limited Oat1 and Na
+
/K
+
-ATPase immunoreactivity in the PT apical membrane indicated loss of cell polarity. As tested in rats treated with colchicine, the observed loss/redistribution of basolateral transporters in both models may be independent on microtubules. Therefore, the diminished renal secretion of OA and OC via PT in Cd nephrotoxicity may result from (a) limited loss of secretory surface (basolateral invaginations), (b) selective loss of Oats and Octs, and (c) loss of cell polarity.