P-glycoprotein ABCB1: a major player in drug handling by mammals

Mammalian P-glycoproteins are active drug efflux transporters located in the plasma membrane. In the early nineties, we generated knockouts of the three P-glycoprotein genes of mice, the Mdr1a, Mdr1b, and Mdr2 P-glycoproteins, now known as Abcb1a, Abcb1b, and Abcb4, respectively. In the JCI papers that are the subject of this Hindsight, we showed that loss of Mdr1a (Abcb1a) had a profound effect on the tissue distribution and especially the...