Use of Transgenic and Knockout Mouse Models to Assess Solute Carrier Transporter Function

Solute carriers represent a superfamily of membrane-bound proteins that are capable of transporting endogenous hormones as well as structurally divergent xenobiotics, including many drugs in clinical use. Solute carriers facilitate drug access to specific tissues or organs, and therefore their inhibition may result in unintended transport-mediated drug interactions or loss of therapeutic efficacy. Mouse models of solute carrier function are providing important new insights into the in vivo relevance of these proteins and their contribution to drug disposition and response. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2011) 89 4, 612–616. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.2