Table 1.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporters involved in pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

ABC Transporter	Function	Relevance for CVD
ABCA1	HDL formation by loading phospholipids on ApoA-1	Involved in lipid and cholesterol clearance [17,18,19]; involved in hematopoiesis [26,27]
ABCB4	Hepatic regulation of phosphatidylcholine secretion into bile; scavenge of atherogenic particles in Kupffer cells and macrophages	Influences cholesterol levels and foam cell formation [50]
ABCB6	Involved in mitochondrial porphyrin transport in hematopoietic stem cells	Influences platelet counts and platelet activity [57]
ABCC1	Involved in export of glutathione disulfide from vascular endothelial cells	Enhances hypertension, endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerotic lesion formation [66,67,68]
ABCC4	Nucleotide transporter controlling intracellular cAMP/cGMP signaling	Mediates vascular tone [60] and platelet activation [62,63]
ABCC6	Mode of action still unknown	Dysfunction increases risk for vascular calcification and myocardial infarction [78,79,80]
ABCC9	As K+-channel responsible for providing the dominant resting K+ conductance	Idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy [85]; elevated resting blood pressure; carotid artery vasospasm [88]
ABCG1	Cellular oxysterol efflux to mature HDL; reverse cholesterol transfer pathway	Cholesterol and phospholipid deposition [37]; accelerated foam cell formation and risk for artery stenosis [38]; involved in hematopoiesis [26]
ABCG4	Sensing and efflux of membranous cholesterol to HDL	Loss of function leads to increased proliferation of megakaryocyte progenitors and platelet counts [51]
ABCG5/G8	Hepatic efflux of cholesterol and plant sterols into the bile	Regulates serum cholesterol levels [18,42,43,44]

HDL, High-density lipoprotein; ApoA-1, apolipoprotein A1; cAMP/cGMP, cyclic adenosine/guanosine monophosphate.