This chapter focuses on the biology of the major facilitative membrane folate transporters, the reduced folate carrier (RFC), and the proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT). Folates are essential vitamins, and folate deficiency contributes to a variety of heath disorders. RFC is ubiquitously expressed and is the major folate transporter in mammalian cells and tissues. PCFT mediates intestinal absorption of dietary folates. Clinically relevant antifolates such as methotrexate (MTX) are transported by RFC, and the loss of RFC transport is an important mechanism of MTX resistance. PCFT is abundantly expressed in human tumors and is active under pH conditions associated with the tumor microenvironment. Pemetrexed (PMX) is an excellent substrate for PCFT as well as for RFC. Novel tumor-targeted antifolates related to PMX with selective membrane transport by PCFT over RFC are being developed. The molecular picture of RFC and PCFT continues to evolve relating to membrane topology, N-glycosylation, energetics, and identification of structurally and functionally important domains and amino acids. The molecular bases for MTX resistance associated with loss of RFC function, and for the rare autosomal recessive condition, hereditary folate malabsorption (HFM), attributable to mutant PCFT, have been established. From structural homologies to the bacterial transporters GlpT and LacY, homology models were developed for RFC and PCFT, enabling new mechanistic insights and experimentally testable hypotheses. RFC and PCFT exist as homo-oligomers, and evidence suggests that homo-oligomerization of RFC and PCFT monomeric proteins may be important for intracellular trafficking and/or transport function. Better understanding of the structure and function of RFC and PCFT should facilitate the rational development of new therapeutic strategies for cancer as well as for HFM.
Keywords: Antifolate; Folate; Oligomerization; Proton-coupled folate transporter; Reduced folate carrier; Transporter.
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