Uptake mechanisms and physiological effects of furanic compounds from the Maillard reaction in budding yeast

Maillard Reaction Products (MRPs) are formed during the thermal processing of foods and exhibit important sensory attributes. Furanic compounds are a subset of MRPs are commonly found in food products but have been shown to exhibit many toxic effects. Despite this broad issue, the molecular mechanisms by which MRPs interact with eukaryotic cells and inhibit cellular processes is poorly understood. To remedy this, we used budding yeast as a genetic model to explore uptake mechanisms of several common furanic compounds: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), furfural (FUR), and 2-Furyl methyl ketone (FMK). Titrations were used to identify sub-lethal doses of each furanic compound for downstream experiments. We then revealed HMF is a potential substrate of the Pdr5 multidrug resistance pump and that both HMF and FUR toxicity correlates with surface nutrient transporters levels. Live cell imaging shows that HMF disrupts mitochondria whilst FUR affects the endolysosomal system. Collectively, this work suggests that the uptake and efflux of even these related furanic compounds have different mechanisms, and exert their toxic effects via distinct intracellular pathways. As many of these cellular components are conserved throughout evolution, this work sheds light on the metabolism of toxic compounds commonly found within animal food sources.