Clinically-Relevant ABC Transporter for Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance

Huan Xiao; Yongcheng Zheng; Lingling Ma; Lili Tian; Qiu Sun

doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.648407

Clinically-Relevant ABC Transporter for Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance

Front Pharmacol. 2021 Apr 19:12:648407. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.648407. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Huan Xiao¹, Yongcheng Zheng¹, Lingling Ma¹, Lili Tian², Qiu Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, China.
² Department of Anesthesiology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Multiple drug resistance (MDR), referring to the resistance of cancer cells to a broad spectrum of structurally and mechanistically unrelated drugs across membranes, severely impairs the response to chemotherapy and leads to chemotherapy failure. Overexpression of ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters is a major contributing factor resulting in MDR, which can recognize and mediate the efflux of diverse drugs from cancer cells, thereby decreasing intracellular drug concentration. Therefore, modulators of ABC transporter could be used in combination with standard chemotherapeutic anticancer drugs to augment the therapeutic efficacy. This review summarizes the recent advances of important cancer-related ABC transporters, focusing on their physiological functions, structures, and the development of new compounds as ABC transporter inhibitors.

Keywords: ABCB1; ABCC1; ABCG2; MDR; anti-cancer.

Publication types

Review