ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters are a superfamily of membrane proteins that translocate a variety of substrates across intra- and extra-cellular membranes, and are characterized by homologous ATP-binding and large multispanning transmembrane domai ...ns. Substrates include drugs, lipids, metabolic products and sterols. Multidrug resistance in cancer cell lines and tumors is a result of overexpression of certain ABC transporters and a spectrum of human disorders having Mendelian and complex inheritance results directly or indirectly from mutations in ABC transporter genes. Diseases for which ABC transporters are involved, or which are targeted with drugs, include cystic fibrosis, type II diabetes, cholesterol and bile transport defects, drug response phenotypes, anemia, retinal degeneration, and neurological disease. There are three major groups of ABC transporters involved in cancer multidrug resistance (MDR). Additionally, ABC transporters play important roles in Absorption-Distribution- Metabolism-Excretion (ADME) and toxicology, which are also important in drug research and development.
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