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Frank, N.Y. et al.

Frank, Pendse, Lapchak, Margaryan, Shlain, Doeing, Sayegh, Frank,

Regulation of progenitor cell fusion by ABCB5 P-glycoprotein, a novel human ATP-binding cassette transporter.

Cell fusion involving progenitor cells is a newly recognized phenomenon thought to contribute to tissue differentiation. The molecular mechanisms governing cell fusion are unknown. P-glycoprotein and related ATP-binding cassette transporters are expressed by progenitor cells, but their physiological role in these cell types has not been defined. Here, we have cloned ABCB5, a rhodamine efflux transporter and novel member of the human P-glycoprotein family, which marks CD133-expressing progenitor cells among human epidermal melanocytes and determines as a regulator of membrane potential the propensity of this subpopulation to undergo cell fusion. Our findings show that polyploid ABCB5+ cells are generated by cell fusion and that this process is specifically enhanced by ABCB5 P-glycoprotein blockade. Remarkably, multinucleated cell hybrids gave rise to mononucleated progeny, demonstrating that fusion contributes to culture growth and differentiation. Thus, our findings define a molecular mechanism for cell fusion involving progenitor cells and show that fusion and resultant growth and differentiation are not merely spontaneous events, but phenomena regulated by ABCB5 P-glycoprotein.[1]

References

Regulation of progenitor cell fusion by ABCB5 P-glycoprotein, a novel human ATP-binding cassette transporter. Frank, N.Y., Pendse, S.S., Lapchak, P.H., Margaryan, A., Shlain, D., Doeing, C., Sayegh, M.H., Frank, M.H. J. Biol. Chem. (2003) [Pubmed]

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