A Saccharomyces cerevisiae homolog of the human adrenoleukodystrophy transporter is a heterodimer of two half ATP-binding cassette transporters

The adrenoleukodystrophy protein (ALDP) and the 70- kDa peroxisomal membrane protein (PMP70) are half ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in the human peroxisome membrane. ALDP and PMP70 share sequence homology and both are implicated in genetic diseases. PXA1 and YKL741 are Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes that encode homologs of ALDP and PMP70. Pxa1p, a putative ortholog of ALDP, is involved in peroxisomal β-oxidation of fatty acids while YKL741 is an open reading frame found by the yeast genome sequencing project. Here we designate YKL741 as PXA2 and show that its protein product, Pxa2p, like Pxa1p, is associated with peroxisomes but not required for their assembly. Yeast strains carrying gene disruptions of PXA1, PXA2, or both have similar and, in the case of the latter, nonadditive phenotypes. We also find that the stability of Pxa1p, but not Pxa2p, is markedly reduced in the absence of the other. Finally, we find that Pxa1p and Pxa2p coimmunoprecipitate. These genetic and physical data suggest that Pxa1p and Pxa2p heterodimerize to form a complete peroxisomal ABC transporter involved in fatty acid β-oxidation. This result predicts the presence of similar heterodimeric ABC transporters in the mammalian peroxisome membrane.