The role of human Solute Carrier transporters (SLCs) in drug toxicity and human diseases

Abstract

SLC transporters are expressed in nearly every epithelium of the body, where they play significant roles in the cellular uptake of endogenous and exogenous substances like drugs, which significantly contribute to maintain homeostasis and influence therapeutic outcomes. They are the key determinates to the absorption, distribution and elimination of drugs. Dysfunction of SLCs often results in adverse effects of drugs as well as human diseases. My two projects described in the Chapter 2 and 3 both provided novel information regarding SLC transporters in human diseases, more specifically, their contribution to drug-induced retinopathy and their altered expression in T1DM. Our findings enhanced our understanding of the physiological and pathological roles of SLCs in human health and diseases, which more specifically, assists in the prevention of drug-induced retinopathy and forms the basis in therapeutic optimization of SLC drug substrates in Type 1 diabetes. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that consideration of transporter function and expression should be added to drug safety guidelines in the future. Future studies will explore the interactions between clinically important drugs and SLC transporters so as to prevent drug-induced toxicity and to rationally design drug therapies in diabetic patients in considering the altered expression of SLCs in T1DM.