Role of solute carriers in response to anticancer drugs

Abstract

Membrane transporters play critical roles in moving a variety of anticancer drugs across cancer cell membrane, thereby
determining chemotherapy efficacy and/or toxicity. The retention of anticancer drugs in cancer cells is the result of net
function of efflux and influx transporters. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are mainly the efflux transporters
expressing at cancer cells, conferring the chemo-resistance in various malignant tumors, which has been well documented
over the past decades. However, the function of influx transporters, in particular the solute carriers (SLC) in cancer cells, has
only been recently well recognized to have significant impact on cancer therapy. The SLC transporters not only directly
bring anticancer agents into cancer cells but also serve as the uptake mediators of essential nutrients for tumor growth
and survival. In this review, we concentrate on the interaction of SLC transporters with anticancer drugs and nutrients,
and their impact on chemo-sensitivity or -resistance of cancer cells. The differential expression patterns of SLC transporters
between normal and tumor tissues may be well utilized to achieve specific delivery of chemotherapeutic agents.