Drug-induced phototoxicity evoked by inhibition of human ABC transporter ABCG2: development of in vitro high-speed screening systems.

BACKGROUND: Photosensitivity depends on both genetic and environmental factors. Pheophorbide a, present in various plant-derived foods and food supplements, can be absorbed by the small intestine. Accumulation of pheophorbide a and porphyrins in the systemic blood circulation can result in phototoxic lesions on light-exposed skin. OBJECTIVE: As the human ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCG2 has been suggested to be critically involved in porphyrin-mediated photosensitivity, we aimed to develop in vitro screening systems for drug-induced phototoxicity. CONCLUSION: Functional impairment owing to inhibition of ABCG2 by drugs or its genetic polymorphisms can lead to the disruption of porphyrin homeostasis. This review article provides an overview on drug-induced photosensitivity, as well as our hypothesis on a potential role of ABCG2 in phototoxicity.

Ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation of non-synonymous SNP variants of human ABC transporter ABCG2.

Clinical relevance is implicated between the genetic polymorphisms of the ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporter ABCG2 (ABC subfamily G, member 2) and the individual differences in drug response. We expressed a total of seven non-synonymous SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) variants in Flp-In-293 cells by using the Flp (flippase) recombinase system. Of these, ABCG2 F208S and S441N variants were found to be expressed at markedly low levels, whereas their mRNA levels were equal to those of the other SNP variants and ABCG2 WT (wild-type). Interestingly, protein expression levels of the ABCG2 F208S and S441N variants increased 6- to 12-fold when Flp-In-293 cells were treated with MG132, a proteasome inhibitor. Immunoprecipitation followed by immunoblot analysis showed that the ABCG2 F208S and S441N variant proteins were endogenously ubiquitinated in Flp-In-293 cells, and treatment with MG132 significantly enhanced the level of these ubiquitinated variants. Immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated that MG132 greatly affected the ABCG2 F208S and S441N variants in terms of both protein levels and intracellular distribution. Immunoblot analysis revealed that those variants were N-glycosylated; however, their oligosaccharides were immature compared with those present on ABCG2 WT. The ABCG2 F208S and S441N variant proteins do not appear to be processed in the Golgi apparatus, but undergo ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation in proteasomes, whereas ABCG2 WT is sorted to the plasma membrane and then degraded via the lysosomal pathway. The present study provides the first evidence that certain genetic polymorphisms can affect the protein stability of ABCG2. Control of proteasomal degradation of ABCG2 would provide a novel approach in cancer chemotherapy to circumvent multidrug resistance of human cancers.

In vitro evaluation of photosensitivity risk related to genetic polymorphisms of human ABC transporter ABCG2 and inhibition by drugs.

Since porphyrins are regarded as endogenous substrates for the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCG2, it is hypothesized that functional impairment owing to genetic polymorphisms or inhibition of ABCG2 by drugs may result in a disruption of cellular porphyrin homeostasis. In the present study, we expressed ABCG2 genetic variants, i.e., V12M, Q141K, S441N, and F489L, as well as the wild type (WT) in Flp-In-293 cells to examine the hypothesis. Cells expressing S441N and F489L variants exhibited high levels of both cellularly accumulated pheophorbide a and photosensitivity, when those cells were incubated with pheophorbide a and irradiated with visible light. To further elucidate the significance of ABCG2 in cellular porphyrin homeostasis, we observed cellular accumulation and compartmentation of porphyrin and pheophorbide a by means of a new fluorescence microscopy technology, and found that accumulation of porphyrin and pheophorbide a in the cytoplasm compartment was maintained at low levels in Flp-In-293 cells expressing ABCG2 WT, V12M, or Q141K. When ABCG2 was inhibited by imatinib or novobiocin, however, those cells became sensitive to light. Based on these results, it is strongly suggested that certain genetic polymorphisms and/or inhibition of ABCG2 by drugs can enhance the potential risk of photosensitivity.

Live imaging of yeast Golgi cisternal maturation.

There is a debate over how protein trafficking is performed through the Golgi apparatus. In the secretory pathway, secretory proteins that are synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum enter the early compartment of the Golgi apparatus called cis cisternae, undergo various modifications and processing, and then leave for the plasma membrane from the late (trans) cisternae. The cargo proteins must traverse the Golgi apparatus in the cis-to-trans direction. Two typical models propose either vesicular transport or cisternal progression and maturation for this process. The vesicular transport model predicts that Golgi cisternae are distinct stable compartments connected by vesicular traffic, whereas the cisternal maturation model predicts that cisternae are transient structures that form de novo, mature from cis to trans, and then dissipate. Technical progress in live-cell imaging has long been awaited to address this problem. Here we show, by the use of high-speed three-dimensional confocal microscopy, that yeast Golgi cisternae do change the distribution of resident membrane proteins from the cis nature to the trans over time, as proposed by the maturation model, in a very dynamic way.