Saccharomyces cerevisiae Bpt1p is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein that belongs to the MRP subfamily and is a close homologue of the glutathione conjugate (GS conjugate) transporter Ycf1p. The function of Bpt1p has previously been evaluated only in vitro, by using nonphysiological substrates. In the present study we examined the localization, regulation, and transport properties of Bpt1p in vivo, as well as its capacity to transport a set of prototypical MRP substrates in vitro. Our results show that Bpt1p, like Ycf1p, localizes to the yeast vacuolar membrane, plays a role in cadmium detoxification and ade2 pigmentation in vivo, and can participate in the transport of GS conjugates and glucuronate conjugates, as well as free glutathione, in vitro. However, in all of these cases the contribution of Bpt1p is substantially less than that of Ycf1p. In addition, the expression patterns of YCF1 and BPT1 differ significantly. Whereas YCF1 expression is markedly increased by cadmium, adenine limitation in an ade2 strain, or overexpression of the stress-responsive transcription factor Yap1p, BPT1 expression is only modestly affected under these conditions. Thus, although the functional capabilities of Bpt1p and Ycf1p overlap, their differences in regulation and substrate preference imply that they contribute to cellular detoxification processes in different ways.With the complete genome of numerous organisms now in hand, the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily has emerged as the largest membrane protein superfamily in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including microbes, plants, and animals (10-12, 17, 40, 45). Members of this superfamily catalyze the MgATP-energized transport of a broad range of substrates across biological membranes. Mutational loss of function of ABC proteins has been implicated in an increasing number of inherited diseases (11), and overexpression of certain ABC transporters has been shown to enhance multidrug resistance and the elimination of xenobiotics (1, 2). Consequently, elucidation of the biochemical activity, substrate specificity, and physiological regulation of ABC transporters is of both clinical and general biological significance.Phylogenetic analysis has provided a valuable road map for formulating hypotheses about the function and substrate(s) of a particular transporter. ABC proteins can be divided into seven subfamilies based on sequence relatedness, designated ABCA through ABCG (11, 12, 45; http://nutrigene.4t.com/ humanabc.htm). The emergent view is that members of a particular subfamily are likely to exhibit some degree of overlap in substrate specificity and/or function. This point is well illustrated by members of the human ABCC subfamily, also designated the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) subfamily, several of which participate in cellular detoxification processes.In humans, the ABCC/MRP subfamily contains 12 members, 5 of which (MRP1 through MRP5) are implicated in multidrug transport. Critically, most drugs are either transported by the MRPs ...

The glutathione-mediated pathway for the detoxification of endogenously and exogenously derived toxic compounds was investigated using a pigment that accumulates in certain adenine biosynthetic mutants of yeasts. The ade1 / ade2 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, when grown on adenine-limiting medium, accumulate a characteristic red pigment (ade pigment) in their vacuoles. The precursors of the ade pigments are toxic intermediates that form conjugates with glutathione, followed by their transport inside the vacuole. In this study, this red pigment was used as a phenotypic screen to obtain insight regarding new genes involved in the three phases of this detoxification pathway: the activation phase (phase I), the conjugation phase (phase II), and the efflux phase (phase III). Components of the phase III (efflux) pathway which includes, in addition to the previously characterized Ycf1p and Bpt1p, another member of the 'Ycf1p family', Bat1p, as well as a vacuolar H(+)-ATPase-dependent transport were identified. In the investigation of phase II (conjugation), it was found that glutathione S-transferases, encoded by GTT1 and GTT2,do not appear to play a role in this process. By contrast, two other previously characterized genes, the oxidative stress transcription factor gene, SKN7, and the yeast caesin protein kinase gene, YCK1, of S. cerevisiae do participate in this pathway.

Disruption of the first enzyme of glutathione biosynthesis in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe leads to a glutathione auxotrophy phenotype on plates. However, growth experiments in liquid medium revealed that the cessation of growth resulting from glutathione depletion in these yeasts is very delayed in S. cerevisiae compared to S. pombe. Glutathione metabolism was investigated to understand this delayed growth stasis in S. cerevisiae. The assimilation of reduced and oxidized glutathione, the intracellular storage pools of glutathione and the turnover of this compound were investigated and found to be similar in both yeasts. A possible overlapping role of intracellular thioredoxin in causing delayed stasis was studied. Yeast thioredoxin was overexpressed in S. cerevisiae and was found to partially relieve the dependence of S. cerevisiae glutathione auxotrophs on extracellular glutathione in glucose-grown cultures, as well as in glycerol-grown cultures where conditions of increased glutathione requirements exists in the cell. By partially, but not completely, compensating for glutathione deficiency in this yeast, thioredoxin thus appeared to be the major factor that was causing the delayed growth stasis following glutathione depletion in this yeast.

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