Interaction with the 5D3 monoclonal antibody is regulated by intramolecular rearrangements but not by covalent dimer formation of the human ABCG2 multidrug transporter

Human ABCG2 is a plasma membrane glycoprotein working as a homodimer or homo-oligomer. The protein plays an important role in the protection/ detoxification of various tissues and may also be responsible for the multidrug-resistant phenotype of cancer cells. In our previous study we found that the 5D3 monoclonal antibody shows a function-dependent reactivity to an extracellular epitope of the ABCG2 transporter. In the current experiments we have further characterized the 5D3-ABCG2 interaction. The effect of chemical cross-linking and the modulation of extracellular S-S bridges on the transporter function and 5D3 reactivity of ABCG2 were investigated in depth. We found that several protein cross-linkers greatly increased 5D3 labeling in ABCG2 expressing HEK cells; however, there was no correlation between covalent dimer formation, the inhibition of transport activity, and the increase in 5D3 binding. Dithiothreitol treatment, which reduced the extracellular S-S bridge-forming cysteines of ABCG2, had no effect on transport function but caused a significant decrease in 5D3 binding. When analyzing ABCG2 mutants carrying Cys-to-Ala changes in the extracellular loop, we found that the mutant C603A (lacking the intermolecular S-S bond) showed comparable transport activity and 5D3 reactivity to the wild-type ABCG2. However, disruption of the intramolecular S-S bridge (in C592A, C608A, or C592A/C608A mutants) in this loop abolished 5D3 binding, whereas the function of the protein was preserved. Based on these results and ab initio folding simulations, we propose a model for the large extracellular loop of the ABCG2 protein.