In addition to reproduction, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) has been postulated to control cholesterol metabolism via cholesterol transport, which is carried out partly by the members of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters G1 (ABCG1) and G4 (ABCG4). However, there is yet to be evidence demonstrating the relationship between these transporters with reference to GnRH neurons. In the present study, we cloned two ABCG1 messenger RNA (mRNA) variants and one ABCG4 mRNA and examined their expression in the brain including GnRH neurons (GnRH1, GnRH2, and GnRH3) in the cichlid tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Comparison of nucleotide sequences of the tilapia ABCG1 and ABCG4 with that of other fish species showed that both of these genes are evolutionarily conserved among fishes. ABCG1 and ABCG4 were shown to have high mRNA expressions in the CNS, pituitary, and gonads. In the brain, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that ABCG4 mRNA was higher than ABCG1a in all brain regions including the olfactory bulb (ABCG1=13.34, ABCG4=6796.35; P<0.001), dorsal telencephalon (ABCG1=8.64, ABCG4=10149.13; P=0.001), optic tectum (ABCG1=22.12, ABCG4=13931.04; P<0.01), cerebellum (ABCG1=8.68, ABCG4=12382.90; P<0.01), and preoptic area-midbrain-hypothalamus (ABCG1=21.36, ABCG4=13255.41; P=0.001). Similarly, although ABCG1 mRNA level is much higher in the pituitary compared with the brain, it was still significantly lower compared with ABCG4 (ABCG1=337.73, ABCG4=1157.87; P=0.01). The differential pattern of expression of ABCG1 and ABCG4 in the brain versus pituitary suggests that the two transporters are regulated by different mechanisms. Furthermore, ABCG1 and ABCG4 mRNA expressions were found in all three types of laser-captured GnRH neurons with highly similar percentage of expressions, suggesting that cholesterol efflux from GnRH neurons may require heterodimerization of both ABCG1 and ABCG4.
Treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a predominant challenge in chemotherapy due to the existence of blood-brain barrier (BBB) which restricts delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the brain together with the problem of drug penetration through hard parenchyma of the GBM. With the structural and mechanistic elucidation of the BBB under both physiological and pathological conditions, it is now viable to target central nervous system (CNS) disorders utilizing the presence of transferrin (Tf) receptors (TfRs). However, overexpression of these TfRs on the GBM cell surface can also help to avoid restrictions of GBM cells to deliver chemotherapeutic agents within the tumor. Therefore, targeting of TfR-mediated delivery could counteract drug delivery issues in GBM and create a delivery system that could cross the BBB effectively to utilize ligand-conjugated drug complexes through receptor-mediated transcytosis. Hence, approach towards successful delivery of antitumor agents to the gliomas has been making possible through targeting these overexpressed TfRs within the CNS and glioma cells. This review article presents a thorough analysis of current understanding on Tf-conjugated nanocarriers as efficient drug delivery system.