ATP-Binding Cassette System

ATP-Binding Cassette System (ABC) transporters are a superfamily of proteins that all have ATP
binding cassette and transporting substances across membranes also non-transport-related
process such as translation of RNA and DNA repair. They also carry a wide variety of substrate
across extracellular and intracellular membranes like metabolic products, lipids and sterols, and
drugs except protein because protein is classified as ABC transport. ABC transporter use the
energy of ATP hydrolysis to across cell membranes where ATP hydrolysis react with chemical
energy to produce ATP with inorganic phosphate.
There are three main functions of ABC transporters. First is in prokaryotes, importers mediate
the uptake of nutrients into the cell. The substrates that can be transported include ions, amino
acids, peptides, sugars, and other molecules that are mostly hydrophilic. Next, in gram-negative
bacteria, exporters transport lipids and some polysaccharides from the cytoplasm to the
periplasm. Eukaryotes do not possess any importers. Exporters or effluxers, which are both
present in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, function as pumps that extrude toxins and drugs out of the
cell. Last, the third subgroup of ABC proteins do not function as transporters, but rather are
implicated in translation and DNA repair processes.
In bacterial efflux systems, certain substances that need to be extruded from the cell include
surface components of the bacterial cell, proteins involved in bacterial pathogenesisi, heme,
hydrolytic enzymes, S-layer proteins, competence factors, toxins, antibiotics, bacteriocins,
peptide antibiotics, drugs and siderophores. They are very important role in biosynthetic
pathways, including extracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis and cytochrome biogenesis.

ABC
Transporters. Boundless Microbiology. Boundless, 26 May. 2016. Retrieved 20 Jul. 2016
from https://www.boundless.com/microbiology/textbooks/boundless-microbiology-textbook/cell-structureof-bacteria-archaea-and-eukaryotes-4/transport-across-the-cell-membrane-33/abc-transporters-256-1009/
Source: Boundless. ABC Transporters. Boundless Microbiology. Boundless, 26 May. 2016. Retrieved 20
Jul. 2016 from https://www.boundless.com/microbiology/textbooks/boundless-microbiology-textbook/cellstructure-of-bacteria-archaea-and-eukaryotes-4/transport-across-the-cell-membrane-33/abc-transporters256-1009/