Abstract
This study addresses the transport mechanism of riboflavin (vitamin B2) across intestinal epithelium in the presence and absence of pharmacologically active compounds. A polarized transport process with a 6-fold higher basolateral (BL)-to-apical (AP) flux was observed in both a human intestinal cell model (Caco-2) and rat intestinal tissue. Riboflavin-specific translocation systems on both the AP and BL cell surfaces were saturable with affinity values close to most receptors (Km: 9.72 ± 0.85 and 4.06 ± 0.03 nM, respectively). Pharmacological agents known to alter intracellular endocytic events were used to examine the potential involvement of receptor-mediated events. Nocodazole significantly inhibited AP uptake (58.4%), BL-to-AP riboflavin (56.7%) and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled transferrin (FITC-Tf) (31.8%) transport without affecting mannitol or cholic acid transport, whereas AP-to-BL riboflavin (252.8%) and FITC-Tf (145.1%) transport was increased. Brefeldin A significantly enhanced AP-to-BL riboflavin (37.1%) and bidirectional FITC-Tf transport (AP-to-BL: 13-fold; BL-to-AP: 5-fold). without affecting BL-to-AP riboflavin transport. Combined, these data suggest an essential role of microtubule-dependent movement and vesicular sorting component(s) in the bidirectional transport of riboflavin. Dissociation of riboflavin from the cell surface was pH-dependent with significantly higher substrate release at acidic pH, indicating the presence of riboflavin-specific cell surface receptors. In summary, our studies provide biochemical evidence of the involvement of a receptor-mediated mechanism in the cellular translocation of riboflavin.
Footnotes
-
Send reprint requests to: Dr. Peter W. Swaan, Division of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, 500 West 12th Ave., Columbus OH 43210-1291. E-mail: swaan.1{at}osu.edu
- Abbreviations:
- RME
- receptor-mediated endocytosis
- FITC-Tf
- fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled transferrin
- TfR
- transferrin receptor
- AP
- apical
- BL
- basolateral
- BFA
- brefeldin A
- Is.c.
- short-circuit current
- Received December 16, 1999.
- Accepted March 10, 2000.
- The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JPET articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years.Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page.
|