Quantitative Determination of Luminal and Abluminal Membrane Distributions of Transporters in Porcine Brain Capillaries by Plasma Membrane Fractionation and Quantitative Targeted Proteomics

Abluminal or luminal localization of transporter in plasma membranes at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is critical for their physiological and pharmacological roles. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a new method to investigate membrane localization of transporters, through quantitative measurement of protein expression levels in fractionated plasma membrane prepared from porcine brain capillaries. Luminal–abluminal distribution ratios were calculated from the results of quantitative targeted absolute proteomics of fractionated membranes, after correction for cross-contamination based on measurements of luminal and abluminal membrane markers. BCRP expression was greater at the luminal membrane than at the abluminal membrane, supporting the usefulness of the distribution ratio as a quantitative indicator of localization. The distribution ratios suggested luminal-dominant localizations of GLUT1 and OATP3A1, and abluminal-dominant localizations of ABCA1 and FATP1. For OATP3A1, ABCA1 and FATP1, these results require reconsideration of their functions at the BBB. Species differences were examined using expression levels normalized to Na+/K+–ATPase. BCRP expression is dominant over multidrug resistance 1 expression in porcine BBB, as in other primates including humans. This methodology for quantitative measurement of protein localization is expected to improve our understanding of the roles of transporters at the BBB, and should be applicable to other polarized cells.