Systematic Target Screening Revealed That Tif302 Could Be an Off-Target of the Antifungal Terbinafine in Fission Yeast.
We used a heterozygous gene deletion library of fission yeasts comprising all essential and non-essential genes for a microarray screening of target genes of the antifungal terbinafine, which inhibits ergosterol synthesis via the Erg1 enzyme. We identified 14 heterozygous strains corresponding to 10 non-essential [7 ribosomal-protein (RP) coding genes,  spt7 ,  spt20 , and  elp2 ] and 4 essential genes ( tif302 ,  rpl2501 ,  rpl31 , and  erg1 ). Expectedly, their  erg1  mRNA and protein levels had decreased compared to the control strain SP286. When we studied the action mechanism of the non-essential target genes using cognate haploid deletion strains, knockout of SAGA-subunit genes caused a down-regulation in  erg1  transcription compared to the control strain ED668. However, knockout of RP genes conferred no susceptibility to ergosterol-targeting antifungals. Surprisingly, the RP genes participated in the  erg1  transcription as components of repressor complexes as observed in a comparison analysis of the experimental ratio of  erg1  mRNA. To understand the action mechanism of the interaction between the drug and the novel essential target genes, we performed isobologram assays with terbinafine and econazole (or cycloheximide). Terbinafine susceptibility of the  tif302  heterozygous strain was attributed to both decreased  erg1  mRNA levels and inhibition of translation. Moreover, Tif302 was required for efficacy of both terbinafine and cycloheximide. Based on a molecular modeling analysis, terbinafine could directly bind to Tif302 in yeasts, suggesting Tif302 as a potential off-target of terbinafine. In conclusion, this genome-wide screening system can be harnessed for the identification and characterization of target genes under any condition of interest.
Lee S, Nam M, Lee AR, Lee J, Woo J, Kang NS, Balupuri A, Lee M, Kim SY, Ro H, Choi YW, Kim DU, Hoe KL