RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Expression of Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1A2 in Red Blood Cells and Its Potential Impact on Antimalarial Therapy JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 1562 OP 1568 DO 10.1124/dmd.116.069807 VO 44 IS 10 A1 Andrea Hubeny A1 Markus Keiser A1 Stefan Oswald A1 Gabriele Jedlitschky A1 Heyo K. Kroemer A1 Werner Siegmund A1 Markus Grube YR 2016 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/44/10/1562.abstract AB Important antimalarial drugs, including quinolines, act against blood schizonts by interfering with hemoglobin metabolism. To reach their site of action, these compounds have to cross the plasma membrane of red blood cells (RBCs). Organic cation transporters (OCTs) and organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) are important uptake transporters and interesting candidates for local drug transport. We therefore studied their interaction with antimalarial compounds (quinine, chloroquine, mefloquine, pyrimethamine, artemisinin, and artesunate) and characterized the expression of OATP1A2 and OATP2B1 in RBCs. Competition assays using transporter-overexpressing Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCKII) cells and the model substrate estrone-3-sulfate identified quinine and chloroquine as potent inhibitors of OATP1A2 function (IC50 quinine: 0.7 ± 1.2 µM; chloroquine: 1.0 ± 1.5 µM), but no or only moderate effects were observed for OATP2B1. Subsequently, quinine was identified as a substrate of OATP1A2 (Km 23.4 µM). The OATP1A2-mediated uptake was sensitive to the OATP1A2-specific inhibitor naringin. Both OATPs were expressed in human RBCs, and ex vivo transport studies demonstrated naringin-sensitive accumulation of quinine in these cells (60 pmol versus 38 pmol/5 × 105 RBCs). Additional transport studies using OCT1–3 and organic cation transporter novel type 1 (OCTN1) indicated only significant quinine uptake by OCT1, which was not detected in RBCs. In conclusion, our data demonstrate expression of OATP2B1 and OATP1A2 in RBCs as well as OATP1A2-mediated uptake of quinine. Therefore, modulation of OATP1A2 function may affect quinine uptake into erythrocytes.