Identification of the TPO1 gene in yeast, and its human orthologue TETRAN, which cause resistance to NSAIDs

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as indomethacin, have serious gastrointestinal side effects. Since their direct cytotoxicity was suggested to be involved in this side effect, we here tried to identify NSAID-resistant genes. We screened for Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes whose overexpression causes indomethacin resistance and identified the TPO1 gene, which encodes a major facilitator superfamily transporter. Its overexpression or deletion made yeast cells resistant or sensitive, respectively, to some NSAIDs. A BLAST search identified the possible human orthologue of Tpo1p, tetracycline transporter-like protein (TETRAN), whose overexpression in cultured human cells caused resistance to some NSAIDs, suggesting that TETRAN is an efflux pump for some NSAIDs.