ATP-dependent binding cassette (ABC) transporters are a family of transmembrane proteins that pump a variety of hydrophobic compounds across cellular and subcellular barriers and are implicated in human diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis. Inhibition of ABC transporter activity showed promise in early preclinical studies; however, the outcomes in clinical trials with these agents have n...

The ABC Transporter/Channel Superfamily The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily is probably the largest and most diverse family of proteins that mediate the selective movement of solutes across biological membranes. Many ABC proteins are of considerable clinical significance: human P-glycoprotein (P-gp) confers resistance of cancers to chemotherapeutic drugs, Pghl has a role in chloroquine r...

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters protect embryos and stem cells from mutagens and pump morphogens that control cell fate and migration. In this study, we measured dynamics of ABC transporter activity during formation of sea urchin embryonic cells necessary for the production of gametes, termed the small micromeres. Unexpectedly, we found small micromeres accumulate 2.32 times more of the...

About a 100 years ago, the Drosophila white mutant marked the birth of Drosophila genetics. The white gene turned out to encode the first well studied ABC transporter in arthropods. The ABC gene family is now recognized as one of the largest transporter families in all kingdoms of life. The majority of ABC proteins function as primary-active transporters that bind and hydrolyze ATP while transp...

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters comprise a superfamily of proteins, which actively transport a variety of compounds across cell membranes. Mammalian and most eukaryotic ABC transporters function as exporters, flipping or extruding substrates from the cytoplasmic to the extracellular or lumen side of cell membranes. Prokaryotic ABC transporters function either as exporters or importers. ...

Curcumin (CUR), a natural product of turmeric, from rhizomes of Curcuma longa, is a known agent of reversal of drug resistance phenotypes in cancer cells overexpressing ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, viz., ABCB1, ABCG2, and ABCC1. In the present study, we evaluated whether CUR could also modulate multidrug transporters of yeasts that belong either to the ABC family or to the major fac...

ABC transporter proteins couple the energy of ATP binding and hydrolysis to substrate transport across a membrane. In humans, clinical studies have implicated mutations in 19 of the 48 known ABC transporters in diseases such as cystic fibrosis and adrenoleukodystrophy. Although divergent in sequence space, the overall topology of these proteins, consisting of two transmembrane domains and two A...

Dirofilaria immitis, a filarial nematode, causes dirofilariasis in dogs, cats and occasionally in humans. Prevention of the disease has been mainly by monthly use of the macrocyclic lactone (ML) endectocides during the mosquito transmission season. Recently, ML resistance has been confirmed in D. immitis and therefore, there is a need to find new classes of anthelmintics. One of the mechanisms ...

We recently reported the isolation and initial characterization of a transposon-generated mutation that resulted in defects in both morphogenesis and antibiotic production in Streptomyces coelicolor. The insertion identified the SCO7168 open reading frame whose predicted product is a GntR family transcriptional regulator. Here, we show that this gene acts to repress transcription of itself as w...