P-glycoprotein

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) also known as multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1) is an important protein of the cell membrane that pumps many foreign substances out of cells. More formally, it is an ATP-dependent efflux pump with broad substrate specificity. P-gp is extensively distributed and expressed in the intestinal epithelium where it pumps xenobiotics (such as toxins or drugs) back into the intestinal lumen, in liver cells where it pumps them into bile ducts, in the cells of the proximal tubular of the kidney where it pumps them into urine-conducting ducts, and in the capillary endothelial cells comprising the blood–brain barrier and blood-testis barrier, where it pumps them back into the capillaries. Some cancer cells also express large amounts of P-gp, which renders these cancers multi-drug resistant. P-gp is an ATP-dependent drug efflux pump for xenobiotic compounds with broad substrate specificity. It is responsible for decreased drug accumulation in multidrug-resistant cells and often mediates the development of resistance to anticancer drugs. This protein also functions as a transporter in the blood–brain barrier.