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Transepithelial transport of P-glycoprotein substrate by the malpighian tubules of the desert locust

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posted on 2023-06-09, 20:37 authored by Marta Rossi, Davide De De Battasti, Jeremy NivenJeremy Niven
Extrusion of xenobiotics is essential for allowing animals to remove toxic substances present in their diet or generated as a biproduct of their metabolism. By transporting a wide range of potentially noxious substrates, active transporters of the ABC transporter family play an important role in xenobiotic extrusion. One such class of transporters are the multidrug resistance P-glycoprotein transporters. Here, we investigated P-glycoprotein transport in the Malpighian tubules of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), a species whose diet includes plants that contain toxic secondary metabolites. To this end, we studied transporter physiology using a modified Ramsay assay in which ex vivo Malpighian tubules are incubated in different solutions containing the P-glycoprotein substrate dye rhodamine B in combination with different concentrations of the P-glycoprotein inhibitor verapamil. To determine the quantity of the P-glycoprotein substrate extruded we developed a simple and cheap method as an alternative to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, radiolabelled alkaloids or confocal microscopy. Our evidence shows that: (i) the Malpighian tubules contain a P-glycoprotein; (ii) tubule surface area is positively correlated with the tubule fluid secretion rate; and (iii) as the fluid secretion rate increases so too does the net extrusion of rhodamine B. We were able to quantify precisely the relationships between the fluid secretion, surface area, and net extrusion. We interpret these results in the context of the life history and foraging ecology of desert locusts. We argue that P-glycoproteins contribute to the removal of xenobiotic substances from the haemolymph, thereby enabling gregarious desert locusts to maintain toxicity through the ingestion of toxic plants without suffering the deleterious effects themselves.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

PLoS ONE

ISSN

1932-6203

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Issue

10

Volume

14

Page range

1-23

Department affiliated with

  • Evolution, Behaviour and Environment Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sussex Neuroscience Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-02-14

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-02-14

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-02-13

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