Goals of the Project

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In this project, investigators from diverse disciplines are conducting a series of integrated studies to elucidate the pharmacogenetics of membrane transport proteins. This class of proteins is of great pharmacological importance as it provides the target for many commonly used prescription drugs and is a major determinant of the absorption, distribution and elimination of many clinically used drugs. We seek to test the hypothesis that variations in the DNA sequence of genes encoding membrane transporters underlie interindividual differences in response to such drugs.

The specific aims of the project are as follows:

(a) Identify sequence variants in genes encoding selected membrane transport proteins.

(b) Determine cellular phenotypes for transporter variants through studies in heterologous systems.

(c) Determine whether particular clinical pharmacogenetic phenotypes are associated with specific transporter variants.

(d) Deposit the data in the Pharmacogenetics Network Database, PharmGKB.

Membrane transporters are proteins that govern uptake of molecules (including drugs) into cells or that pump molecules (including drugs) from cells