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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

MDR, mutli-drug resistance, Pgp, P-Glycoprotein, chemotherapy

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Abstract

Chemotherapy is one of the primary methods of combating cancer, and if it fails, the patient may be left with few options for treatment. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) is a clinical condition manifested by the failure of chemotherapy. It is primarily due to the expression of Pglycoprotein (Pgp), a membrane-bound small molecule transport protein which is found normally in some cells but is greatly over-expressed in drug resistant cancer cells1. After chemotherapy drugs diffuse into the cell, Pgp effluxes them out against their concentration gradient, thus imparting drug resistance. The general belief is that the most direct and practical way of reversing MDR is through developing Pgp inhibitors. To accomplish this, we must learn more about the structure and mechanism of transport of Pgp.

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