Research

Overview

In the basolateral membrane of human hepatocytes, there are several transporters such as NTCP, OCT1, OATP1B1, and OATP1B3. These transporters are important for the uptake of endogenous compounds like bile acids and xenobiotics, including various drugs. A previous graduate student demonstrated that several of these transporters interact with each other impacting both their function and surface expression. I am currently investigating how exactly these transporters co-localize and testing whether it involves direct protein-protein interactions or detergent-resistant lipid rafts. In addition, I am looking at the impact of adding or removing cholesterol on the co-localization of these transporters. I expect that these experiments will result in a better understanding of the function and regulation of hepatocellular uptake transporters and aid in predicting drug absorption, distribution, and adverse effects.