Expression levels of human P-glycoprotein in in vitro cell lines: correlation between mRNA and protein levels for P-glycoprotein expressed in cells.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between mRNA and protein levels for P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expressed in various cell lines to validate the estimation of P-gp activity from its mRNA levels. P-gp expression levels in various cell monolayers, normal, P-gp-induced, P-gp-highly induced, (multidrug resistance, MDR) MDR1-knockdown (A2-2) and MDR1-knockdown (B2-2) Caco-2 cells and MDCKII/MDR1 cells, were quantified by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot analysis. Both mRNA and protein levels of P-gp were lowest in the MDR1-knockdown (B2-2) Caco-2 cells, followed by the MDR1-knockdown (A2-2) Caco-2, normal Caco-2, P-gp-induced Caco-2 and P-gp-highly induced Caco-2 cells, and highest in the MDCKII/MDR1 cells. Except for the MDCKII/MDR1 cells, the protein levels of P-gp in all Caco-2 cell lines showed a linear correlation with its mRNA levels; however, although the MDR1 mRNA level in MDCKII/MDR1 cells was much higher than in the P-gp-highly induced Caco-2 cells, the protein levels were almost the same in both cells. From these findings, it was suggested that P-gp activity in MDCKII/MDR1 cells could not be estimated from its mRNA levels.