The stress granule protein Vgl1 and poly(A)-binding protein Pab1 are required for doxorubicin resistance in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Doxorubicin is an anthracycline antibiotic widely used for chemotherapy. Although doxorubicin is effective in the treatment of several cancers, including solid tumors and leukemias, the basis of its mechanism of action is not completely understood. Here, we describe the effects of doxorubicin and its relationship with stress granules formation in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. We show that disruption of genes encoding the components of stress granules, including vgl1+, which encodes a multi-KH type RNA-binding protein, and pab1+, which encodes a poly(A)-binding protein, resulted in greater sensitivity to doxorubicin than seen in wild-type cells. Disruption of the vgl1+ and pab1+ genes did not confer sensitivity to other anti-cancer drugs such as cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and paclitaxel. We also showed that doxorubicin treatment promoted stress granule formation when combined with heat shock. Notably, doxorubicin treatment did not induce hyperphosphorylation of eIF2α, suggesting that doxorubicin is involved in stress granule assembly independent of eIF2α phosphorylation. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of fission yeast for elucidating the molecular targets of doxorubicin toxicity and suggest a novel drug-resistance mechanism involving stress granule assembly.

► Stress granules (SGs) as a mechanism of doxorubicin tolerance.
► We characterize the role of stress granules in doxorubicin tolerance.
► Deletion of components of SGs enhances doxorubicin sensitivity in fission yeast.
► Doxorubicin promotes SG formation when combined with heat shock.
► Doxorubicin regulates stress granule assembly independent of eIF2α phosphorylation.