Purpose: We examined the effects of the nine nonsynonymous germ-line mutations/SNPs in the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2) gene on the expression and function of the protein.
Materials and methods: We generated cDNAs for each of these mutants (G151T, C458T, C496G, A616C, T623C, T742C, T1291C, A1768T, and G1858A BCRP) and compared the effects of their exogenous expression in PA317 cells with a wild-type control.
Results: PA/F208S cells (T623C BCRP-transfectants) expressed marginal levels of a BCRP protein species (65kDa), which is slightly smaller than wild-type (70kDa), but this mutant did not appear on the cell surface or confer drug resistance. PA/F431L cells (T1291C BCRP-transfectants) were found to express both 70 kDa and 65 kDa BCRP protein products. In addition, although PA/F431L cells expressed 70 kDa BCRP at comparable levels to PA/WT cells, they showed only marginal resistance to SN-38. PA/T153M cells (C458T BCRP-transfectants) and PA/D620N cells (G1858A BCRP-transfectants) expressed lower amounts of BCRP and showed lower levels of resistance to SN-38 compared with PA/WT cells.
Conclusions: We have shown that T623C BCRP encodes a non-functional BCRP and that T1291C BCRP encodes a low-functional BCRP. Hence, these mutations may affect the pharmacokinetics of BCRP substrates in patients harboring these alleles.