Trans-placental transport and metabolism of carbacyclin by perfused human placental in vitro

The prostaglandin transporter is widely expressed in ocular tissues

Prostaglandins (PGs) play important physiological and therapeutic roles in the eye. Our laboratory recently identified a novel PG transporter in the rat that we call "PGT" (Science 268:866, 1995). We have also recently cloned the human PGT cDNA (J Clin Invest 98:1142, 1996). To determine whether PGT might play a role in human ocular tissues, we performed Northern blot analysis of RNA obtained from human ocular tissues and from the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium cell line "ODM-2." PGT transcripts were clearly evident in all ocular tissues. Given that the functional profile of PGT expressed in vitro strongly suggests a role in PG uptake and degradation, the present results suggest that PGT may function in various regions of the human eye for purposes of terminating the signal(s) produced by locally-synthesized PGs.

Cloning, in vitro expression, and tissue distribution of a human prostaglandin transporter cDNA(hPGT)

We recently identified a cDNA in the rat that encodes a broadly expressed PG transporter (PGT). Because PGs play diverse and important roles in human health and disease, we cloned human PGT (hPGT) from an adult human kidney cDNA library. A consensus sequence (4.0 kb) derived from several clones, plus 3' polymerase chain reaction amplification, exhibited 74% nucleic acid identity and 82% amino acid identity compared to rat PGT. When transiently expressed in HeLa cells, a full-length clone catalyzed the transport of PGE1, PGE2, PGD2, PGF2alpha, and, to a lesser degree, TXB2. Northern blotting revealed mRNA transcripts of many different sizes in adult human heart, placenta, brain, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, pancreas, kidney, spleen, prostate, ovary, small intestine, and colon. hPGT mRNAs are also strongly expressed in human fetal brain, lung, liver, and kidney. The broad tissue distribution and substrate profile of hPGT suggest a role in the transport and/or metabolic clearance of PGs in diverse human tissues.