Hydrophilic anti-migraine triptans are substrates for OATP1A2, a transporter expressed at human blood-brain barrier

Abstract

1. OATP1A2 is expressed in the luminal membrane of human blood-brain barrier (BBB). The human tissue with the highest OATP1A2 mRNA expression is the brain.

2. We have established a robust BacMam2-OATP1A2 transduced HEK293 system. Among the 36 central nervous system (CNS) marketed drugs tested, hydrophilic triptans, 5-HT_1B/1D receptor agonists for the treatment of migraine attacks, were identified as OATP1A2 substrates. Kinetics (K_m and V_max) were determined for six marketed triptans.

3. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) obtained from 18 triptan structural analogs revealed that the positively charged basic amine atom was essential for efficient OATP1A2-mediated triptan uptake and uptake rate was in the order of tertiary > secondary > primary.

4. Preliminary quantitative SAR analysis of the triptan analogs demonstrated positive correlation between OATP1A2-mediated uptake rate and van der Waals volume (vdw_vol).

5. OATP1A2 was specifically expressed on the apical side of MDCKII monolayer after BacMam2-OATP1A2 transduction and can facilitate transport of triptans across the MDCKII monolayer from apical to basolateral side. Involvement of OATP1A2 for brain penetration of triptans in human requires further investigation.

Keywords::

• OATP1A2
• triptans
• blood-brain barrier
• uptake transporter

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Hongjian Zhang and Peihua Sun from PharmaResources (Shanghai) Co., Ltd for their scientific input to the manuscript. We appreciate the assistance of Yang Li, Xinyan Lu and Sijie Lu in conducting the transport experiments and collecting the CNS marketed drugs.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.