Abnormal lysosomal trafficking and enhanced exosomal export of cisplatin in drug-resistant human ovarian carcinoma cells

Previous work has shown that cisplatin (CDDP) becomes concentrated in lysosomes, and that acquired resistance to CDDP is associated with abnormalities of protein trafficking and secretion. The lysosomal compartment in CDDP-sensitive 2008 human ovarian carcinoma cells was compared with that in CDDP-resistant 2008/C13*5.25 subline using deconvoluting imaging and specific dyes and antibodies. The lysosomal compartment in CDDP-resistant cells was reduced to just 40% of that in the parental CDDP-sensitive cells ( P < 0.002). This was accompanied by a reduced expression of the lysosome-associated proteins 1 and 2 (LAMP1 and LAMP2) as determined by both microscopy and Western blot analysis. The CDDP-resistant cells released more protein as exosomes and Western blot analysis revealed that these exosomes contained substantially more LAMP1 than those released by the CDDP-sensitive cells. Following loading of the whole cell with CDDP, the exosomes released from 2008/C13*5.25 cells contained 2.6-fold more platinum than those released from sensitive cells. Enhanced exosomal export was accompanied by higher exosomal levels of the putative CDDP export transporters MRP2, ATP7A, and ATP7B. Expression profiling identified significant increases in the expression of several genes whose products function in membrane fusion and vesicle trafficking. This study shows that the lysosomal compartment of human ovarian carcinoma cells selected for stable resistance to CDDP is markedly reduced in size, and that these cells abnormally sort some lysosomal proteins and the putative CDDP transporters into an exosomal pathway that also exports CDDP.