Abstract

ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters form a special famil of membrane proteins, characterized by homologous ATP-binding, and large, multispanningtransmembrane domains. Several members of this family are primary active transporters, which significantly modulate the absorption, metabolism, cellular effectivity and toxicity of pharmacological agents. ABC transporters can transport a wide variety of substrates across biological membranes in an energy-dependent manner. Many ABC transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) are highly expressed in bronchial epithelium. This review provides a general overview of the human ABC transporters, their expression, localization and basic mechanism of action in a brief manner.

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