Proteomic analysis for the impact of hypercholesterolemia on expressions of hepatic drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes

1. Our objective is to investigate the alterations of hepatic drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes in hypercholesterolemia. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed high-cholesterol chows for 8 weeks to induce hypercholesterolemia. Protein levels of hepatic drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes were analyzed by iTRAQ labeling coupled with LC TRIPLE-TOF. 2. Total 239 differentially expressed proteins were identified using proteomic analysis. Among those, protein levels of hepatic drug transporters (MRP2, ABCD3, OAT2, SLC25A12, SCL38A3, SLC2A2 and SLC25A5) and metabolizing enzymes (CYP2B3, CYP2C7, CYP2C11, CYP2C13, CYP4A2 and UGT2B) were markedly reduced, but the levels of CYP2C6 and CYP2E1 were increased in hypercholesterolemia group compared to control. Decreased expressions of drug transporters MRP2 and OAT2 were further confirmed by real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blot. 3. Ingenuity pathway analysis revealed that these differentially expressed proteins were regulated by various signaling pathways including nuclear receptors and inflammatory cytokines. One of the nuclear receptor candidates, liver X receptor alpha (LXRα), was further validated by RT-qPCR and western blot. Additionally, LXRα agonist T0901317 rescued the reduced expressions of MRP2 and OAT2 in HepG2 cells in hypercholesterolemic serum treatment. 4. Our present results indicated that hypercholesterolemia affected the expressions of various drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes in liver via nuclear receptors pathway. Especially, decreased function of LXRα contributes to the reduced expressions of MRP2 and OAT2.