Reinterpretation of the localization of the ATP binding cassette transporter ABCG1 in insulin-secreting cells and insights regarding its trafficking and function

The ABC transporter ABCG1 contributes to the regulation of cholesterol efflux from cells and to the distribution of cholesterol within cells. We showed previously that ABCG1 deficiency inhibits insulin secretion by pancreatic beta cells and, based on its immunolocalization to insulin granules, proposed its essential role in forming granule membranes that are enriched in cholesterol. While we confirm elsewhere that ABCG1, alongside ABCA1 and oxysterol binding protein OSBP, supports insulin granule formation, the aim here is to clarify the localization of ABCG1 within insulin-secreting cells and to provide added insight regarding ABCG1’s trafficking and sites of function. We show that stably expressed GFP-tagged ABCG1 closely mimics the distribution of endogenous ABCG1 in pancreatic INS1 cells and accumulates in the trans-Golgi network (TGN), endosomal recycling compartment (ERC) and on the cell surface but not on insulin granules, early or late endosomes. Notably, ABCG1 is short-lived, and proteasomal and lysosomal inhibitors both decrease its degradation. Following blockade of protein synthesis, GFP-tagged ABCG1 first disappears from the ER and TGN and later from the ERC and plasma membrane. In addition to aiding granule formation, our findings raise the prospect that ABCG1 may act beyond the TGN to regulate activities involving the endocytic pathway, especially as the amount of transferrin receptor is increased in ABCG1-deficient cells. Thus, ABCG1 may function at multiple intracellular sites and the plasma membrane as a roving sensor and modulator of cholesterol distribution, membrane trafficking and cholesterol efflux.