Cyclosporin A protects liver cells against phalloidin. Potent inhibition of the inward transport of cholate and phallotoxins.

Cyclosporin A at concentrations of more than 10 nM protects isolated hepatocytes against the action of phalloidin. Cyclosporin A at 100 nM inhibits the uptake of demethyl[3H]phalloin by 50%, and at 5 microM also that of [14C]cholate. This inhibition is independent of the preincubation period and is not reversed by washing the cells. With a 30-60-fold excess of cyclosporin A, affinity labeling of plasma membrane proteins using 12 microM [3H]isothiocyanatobenzamido cholate was reduced to 40-60% of the control. These findings indicate that transport inhibition by cyclosporin A in liver cells cannot be explained by simple competition on the level of the membrane protein(s) involved.