A functional study on polymorphism of the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCG2: critical role of arginine-482 in methotrexate transport.

Overexpression of the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCG2 reportedly causes multidrug resistance, whereas altered drug-resistance profiles and substrate specificity are implicated for certain variant forms of ABCG2. At least three variant forms of ABCG2 have been hitherto documented on the basis of their amino acid moieties (i.e., arginine, glycine and threonine) at position 482. In the present study we have generated those ABCG2 variants by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed them in HEK-293 cells. Exogenous expression of the Arg(482), Gly(482), and Thr(482) variant forms of ABCG2 conferred HEK-293 cell resistance toward mitoxantrone 15-, 47- and 54-fold, respectively, as compared with mock-transfected HEK-293 cells. The transport activity of those variants was examined by using plasma-membrane vesicles prepared from ABCG2-overexpressing HEK-293 cells. [Arg(482)]ABCG2 transports [(3)H]methotrexate in an ATP-dependent manner; however, no transport activity was observed with the other variants (Gly(482) and Thr(482)). Transport of methotrexate by [Arg(482)]ABCG2 was significantly inhibited by mitoxantrone, doxorubicin and rhodamine 123, but not by S -octylglutathione. Furthermore, ABCG2 was found to exist in the plasma membrane as a homodimer bound via cysteinyl disulphide bond(s). Treatment with mercaptoethanol decreased its apparent molecular mass from 140 to 70 kDa. Nevertheless, ATP-dependent transport of methotrexate by [Arg(482)]ABCG2 was little affected by such mercaptoethanol treatment. It is concluded that Arg(482) is a critical amino acid moiety in the substrate specificity and transport of ABCG2 for certain drugs, such as methotrexate.

Expression and functional characterization of human ABC transporter ABCG2 variants in insect cells.

Hitherto three variant forms of ABCG2 have been documented on the basis of their amino acid moieties (i.e., Arg, Gly, and Thr) at the position 482. In the present study, we have generated those variants of ABCG2 by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed them in Sf9 insect cells. The apparent molecular weight of the expressed ABCG2 variants was 130,000 under non-reductive conditions, whereas it was reduced to 65, 000 by treatment with mercaptoethanol. It is suggested that ABCG2 exists in the plasma membrane of Sf9 cells as a homodimer bound through cysteinyl disulfide bond(s). Both ATPase activity and drug transport of ABCG2 variants were examined by using plasma membrane fractions prepared from ABCG2-overexpressing Sf9 cells. The ATPase activity of the plasma membrane expressing ABCG2 (Gly-482) was significantly enhanced by prazosin. In contrast, ABCG2 (Arg-482) transports [(3)H]methotrexate in an ATP-dependent manner; however, no transport activity was observed with the other variants (Gly-482 and Thr-482). It is strongly suggested that the amino acid moiety at the position of 482 is critical for the substrate specificity of ABCG2.

Does ABCG2 need a heterodimer partner? Expression and functional evaluation of ABCG2 (Arg 482)*.

Accumulating evidence suggests that several ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters mediate the elimination of anticancer drugs from cancer cells and thereby confer drug resistance. SN-38-selected PC-6/SN2-5H human lung carcinoma cells were shown to overexpress ABCG2 with the reduced intracellular accumulation of SN-38, the active metabolite of irinotecan. We have recently demonstrated that plasma membrane vesicles prepared from those cells transported SN-38 in an ATP-dependent manner, and it was suggested that ABCG2 is involved in the active extrusion of SN-38 from cancer cells. In the present study, we have cloned the cDNA of ABCG2 from PC-6/SN2-5H human lung carcinoma cells, expressed ABCG2 in Sf9 insect cells, and characterized its function. Sequence analysis has revealed that the cloned ABCG2 has an arginine at the amino acid position 482, as does the wild type. Expression of the cloned ABCG2 in Sf9 cell membranes was detected by immunoblotting with the BXP-21 antibody. Contrary to our expectation, however, ATPase activity in the cell membranes expressing ABCG2 was stimulated by neither SN-38 nor rhodamine 123. It is suggested that there is a partner protein of ABCG2 required for heterodimer formation to exhibit transport activity toward SN-38.