ATP13A4 Upregulation Drives the Elevated Polyamine Transport System in the Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF7.
Sarah van Veen, Antria Kourti, Elke Ausloos, Joris Van Asselberghs, Chris Van den Haute, Veerle Baekelandt, Jan Eggermont, Peter Vangheluwe
Author Information
Sarah van Veen: Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Antria Kourti: Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Elke Ausloos: Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Joris Van Asselberghs: Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. ORCID
Chris Van den Haute: Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Veerle Baekelandt: Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Jan Eggermont: Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. ORCID
Peter Vangheluwe: Laboratory of Cellular Transport Systems, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. ORCID
Polyamine homeostasis is disturbed in several human diseases, including cancer, which is hallmarked by increased intracellular polyamine levels and an upregulated polyamine transport system (PTS). Thus far, the polyamine transporters contributing to the elevated levels of polyamines in cancer cells have not yet been described, despite the fact that polyamine transport inhibitors are considered for cancer therapy. Here, we tested whether the upregulation of candidate polyamine transporters of the P5B transport ATPase family is responsible for the increased PTS in the well-studied breast cancer cell line MCF7 compared to the non-tumorigenic epithelial breast cell line MCF10A. We found that MCF7 cells presented elevated expression of a previously uncharacterized P5B-ATPase, ATP13A4, which was responsible for the elevated polyamine uptake activity. Furthermore, MCF7 cells were more sensitive to polyamine cytotoxicity, as demonstrated by cell viability, cell death and clonogenic assays. Importantly, the overexpression of ATP13A4 WT in MCF10A cells induced a MCF7 polyamine phenotype, with significantly higher uptake of BODIPY-labeled polyamines and increased sensitivity to polyamine toxicity. In conclusion, we established ATP13A4 as a new polyamine transporter in the human PTS and showed that ATP13A4 may play a major role in the increased polyamine uptake of breast cancer cells. ATP13A4 therefore emerges as a candidate therapeutic target for anticancer drugs that block the PTS.
