Localisation of the multidrug resistance-associated protein, MRP, in resistant large-cell lung tumour cells.

The drug transport protein, P-glycoprotein, confers multidrug resistance (MDR) by expelling drugs across the cell surface. The structurally similar multidrug resistance-associated protein, or MRP, is also involved with drug efflux. In MDR variants of the human lung tumour cell line COR-L23 that overexpress MRP, there are also changes in intracellular drug distribution. To ascertain whether MRP could be involved in either process, experiments were performed to identify where MRP was located in these cells. Following separation of membranes by sucrose gradient centrifugation, MRP was found predominantly in the lighter membrane fractions containing plasma membrane enzyme activity. Immunofluorescent staining with a monoclonal antibody raised against MRP confirmed that MRP is present at the cell surface of these MDR lung tumour cells.