Use of arrays to investigate the contribution of ATP-binding cassette transporters to drug resistance in cancer chemotherapy and prediction of chemosensitivity

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major problem in cancer chemotherapy. One of the best known mechanisms of MDR is the elevated expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. While some members of human ABC transporters have been shown to cause drug resistance with elevated expression, it is not yet known whether the over-expression of other members could also contribute to drug resistance in many model cancer cell lines and clinics. The recent development of microarrays and quantitative PCR arrays for expression profiling analysis of ABC transporters has helped address these issues. In this article, various arrays with limited or full list of ABC transporter genes and their use in identifying ABC transporter genes in drug resistance and chemo-sensitivity prediction will be reviewed.