Abstract.
The nucleoside transporter CNT2 is the highest-affinity adenosine transporter identified so far. Recent evidence suggests that CNT2 has functions other than salvage (i.e. modulation of purinergic responses). Here we identified TGF-β1 as a potent inducer of CNT2 protein expression in liver parenchymal cells. By contrast, CNT1, which is a target of multifunctional cytokines involved in liver cell proliferation, does not respond to TGF-β1 treatment. Cloning of a murine CNT2 gene sequence with promoter-like activity enabled us to demonstrate that this cytokine exerts this effect by transcriptionally activating the CNT2-encoding gene in a JNK-dependent manner. The evidence that CNT2 is not a target of multifunctional cytokines involved in hepatocyte proliferation, but instead, of a cytokine that plays major roles in differentiation and apoptosis, further supports the view that the main physiological role of this transporter protein is not nucleoside salvage.
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Received 23 May 2006; received after revision 30 July 2006; accepted 24 August 2006
R. Valdés and S. Fernández-Veledo contributed equally to this work.
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Valdés, R., Fernández-Veledo, S., Aymerich, I. et al. TGF-β transcriptionally activates the gene encoding the high-affinity adenosine transporter CNT2 in rat liver parenchymal cells. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 63, 2527–2537 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-006-6240-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-006-6240-2