title: Jump into a New Fold-A Homology Based Model for the ABCG2/BCRP Multidrug Transporter.
abstract: ABCG2/BCRP is a membrane protein, involved in xenobiotic and endobiotic transport in key pharmacological barriers and drug metabolizing organs, in the protection of stem cells, and in multidrug resistance of cancer. Pharmacogenetic studies implicated the role of ABCG2 in response to widely used medicines and anticancer agents, as well as in gout. Its Q141K variant exhibits decreased functional expression thus increased drug accumulation and decreased urate secretion. Still, there has been no reliable molecular model available for this protein, as the published structures of other ABC transporters could not be properly fitted to the ABCG2 topology and experimental data. The recently published high resolution structure of a close homologue, the ABCG5-ABCG8 heterodimer, revealed a new ABC transporter fold, unique for ABCG proteins. Here we present a structural model of the ABCG2 homodimer based on this fold and detail the experimental results supporting this model. In order to describe the effect of mutations on structure and dynamics, and characterize substrate recognition and cholesterol regulation we performed molecular dynamics simulations using full length ABCG2 protein embedded in a membrane bilayer and in silico docking simulations. Our results show that in the Q141K variant the introduced positive charge diminishes the interaction between the nucleotide binding and transmembrane domains and the R482G variation alters the orientation of transmembrane helices. Moreover, the R482 position, which plays a role the substrate specificity of the transporter, is located in one of the substrate binding pockets identified by the in silico docking calculations. In summary, the ABCG2 model and in silico simulations presented here may have significant impact on understanding drug distribution and toxicity, as well as drug development against cancer chemotherapy resistance or gout.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics Research Group and Department of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: László
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics Research Group and Department of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.|Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarkadi
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics Research Group and Department of Biophysics and Radiation Biology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5195-749X
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hegedűs
mesh_terms: D000070997:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily G, Member 2 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D006801:Humans; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D012460:Sulfasalazine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000070997:ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily G, Member 2; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012460:Sulfasalazine; D002784:Cholesterol