Inhibition of nucleoside transport by protein kinase inhibitors.

Recently we reported that the pyridinylimidazole class of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase inhibitors potently inhibited the facilitated transport of nucleosides and nucleoside analogs in K562 cells. These compounds competed with the binding of nitrobenzylthioinosine (NBMPR) to K562 cells, consistent with inhibition of the NBMPR-sensitive equilibrative transporter (ENT1). In this study we examined a large number of additional protein kinase inhibitors for their effects on nucleoside transport.