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Dexamethasone increases expression and activity of multidrug resistance transporters at the rat blood-brain barrier.

ABSTRACT: Brain edema is an important factor leading to morbidity and mortality associated with primary brain tumors. Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, is routinely prescribed with antineoplastic agents to alleviate pain associated with chemotherapy and reduce intracranial pressure. We investigated whether dexamethasone treatment increased the expression and activity of multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters at the blood-brain barrier. Treatment of primary rat brain microvascular endothelial cells with submicromolar concentrations of dexamethasone induced significantly higher levels of drug efflux transporters such as breast cancer resistance protein (abcg2), P-glycoprotein (P-gp; abcb1a/abcb1b), and MDR protein 2 (Mrp2; abcc2) as indicted by protein and mRNA levels as well as by functional activity. The effect of dexamethasone on transporter function was significant within 6 h of treatment, was dose dependent, and was reversible. Dexamethasone-induced upregulation of Bcrp and P-gp expression and function was partially abrogated by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist RU486. In contrast, RU486 had no effect on the dexamethasone-induced upregulation of Mrp2, suggesting a GR-independent regulation of Mrp2, and a GR-dependent regulation of P-gp and Bcrp. In addition to the dexamethasone-induced upregulation of MDR transporters, we measured a dose-dependent and reversible increase in the expression of the nuclear transcription factor pregnane xenobiotic receptor (PXR). Administering dexamethasone to rats caused increased expression of PXR in brain microvessels within 24 h. These results suggest that adjuvant therapy with corticosteroids such as dexamethasone in the treatment of brain tumors may increase the expression of MDR transporters at the blood-brain barrier through pathways involving GR and PXR.

SUBMITTER: Narang VS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2518425 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Dexamethasone increases expression and activity of multidrug resistance transporters at the rat blood-brain barrier.

Narang Vishal S VS Fraga Charles C Kumar Narendra N Shen Jun J Throm Stacy S Stewart Clinton F CF Waters Christopher M CM

American journal of physiology. Cell physiology 20080604 2

Brain edema is an important factor leading to morbidity and mortality associated with primary brain tumors. Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, is routinely prescribed with antineoplastic agents to alleviate pain associated with chemotherapy and reduce intracranial pressure. We investigated whether dexamethasone treatment increased the expression and activity of multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters at the blood-brain barrier. Treatment of primary rat brain microvascular endothelial cel ...[more]

PMID: 18524938

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Project description:BackgroundBrain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) experience hypoxic conditions during early brain development. The newly formed capillaries are tight and functional before astrocytes and pericytes join the capillaries and establish the neurovascular unit. Brain endothelial cell phenotype markers P-gp (ABCB1), LAT-1(SLC7A5), GLUT-1(SLC2A1), and TFR(TFRC) have all been described to be hypoxia sensitive. Therefore, we hypothesized that monolayers of BCECs, cultured under hypoxic conditions, would show an increase in LAT-1, GLUT-1 and TFR expression and display tight endothelial barriers.Methods and resultsPrimary bovine BCECs were cultured under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Chronic hypoxia induced HIF-1α stabilization and translocation to the nucleus, as judged by immunocytochemistry and confocal laser scanning imaging. Endothelial cell morphology, claudin-5 and ZO-1 localization and barrier integrity were unaffected by hypoxia, indicating that the tight junctions in the BBB model were not compromised. SLC7A5, SLC2A1, and TFRC-mRNA levels were increased in hypoxic cultures, while ABCB1 remained unchanged as shown by real-time qPCR. P-gp, TfR and GLUT-1 were found to be significantly increased at protein levels. An increase in uptake of [3H]-glucose was demonstrated, while a non-significant increase in the efflux ratio of the P-gp substrate [3H]-digoxin was observed in hypoxic cells. No changes were observed in functional LAT-1 as judged by uptake studies of [3H]-leucine. Stabilization of HIF-1α under normoxic conditions with desferrioxamine (DFO) mimicked the effects of hypoxia on endothelial cells. Furthermore, low concentrations of DFO caused an increase in transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER), suggesting that a slight activation of the HIF-1α system may actually increase brain endothelial monolayer tightness. Moreover, exposure of confluent monolayers to hypoxia resulted in markedly increase in TEER after 24 and 48 h, which corresponded to a higher transcript level of CLDN5.ConclusionsOur findings collectively suggest that hypoxic conditions increase some BBB transporters' expression via HIF-1α stabilization, without compromising monolayer integrity. This may in part explain why brain capillaries show early maturation, in terms of barrier tightness and protein expression, during embryogenesis, and provides a novel methodological tool for optimal brain endothelial culture.

Project description:The low permeability and high selectivity of the blood vessels of the brain and central nervous system (CNS) characterize the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Tight junctions, a lack of fenestrations, and low rates of transcytosis in the endothelial cells of the vasculature prevent passive diffusion of most molecules other than water, gases and some lipid soluble molecules (Obermeier, Daneman, & Ransohoff, 2013). Any additional nutrients must be transported across the barrier with the help of transporter proteins. Two protein families account for most transporters. ABC transporters use ATP to power primary-active transport to move molecules across the BBB against an electrochemical gradient, frequently excluding drugs from entering the brain. Some SLC transporters facilitate transport of solutes along an electrochemical gradient, while others permit secondary-active transport by coupling the flow of a solute traveling down the electrochemical gradient to power another solute against its electrochemical gradient. Brain microvessel endothelial cells (BMEC) from human cerebral cortex were enriched through a homogenization and centrifugation procedure. Two BMEC and two tissue were sequenced with paired-end reads on a SOLiD 5500 Wildfire. Raw data was aligned using LifeScope Genomic Analysis, gene expression determined through Cufflinks, and splice junctions identified by aligning to a custom database of known to known and known to novel junctions. We found numerous examples of transporters with enriched expression in the isolated BMECs compared to whole brain tissue. In total, 131 transporter genes or pseudogenes (109 SLC, 22 ABC) are enriched at least 1.25 fold in BMEC enriched samples, and 57 of these are enriched over 2-fold (50 SLC, 7 ABC). Thirteen genes were found to have at least twice as many counts in BMEC enriched samples than in whole tissue for at least one alternative splice junction. Inversely, 23 genes were found to have at least one alternative splice junction with half as many counts in BMEC enriched samples than in whole tissue.

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Dexamethasone increases expression and activity of multidrug resistance transporters at the rat blood-brain barrier.

Publications

Dexamethasone increases expression and activity of multidrug resistance transporters at the rat blood-brain barrier.

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