The ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters, or traffic ATPases, const
itute a large family of proteins responsible for the transport of a wi
de variety of substrates across cell membranes in both prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells. We describe a human ABC protein with regions of str
ong homology to the recently described murine ABC1 and ABC2 transporte
rs. The gene for this novel protein, human ABC3, maps near the polycys
tic kidney disease type 1 (PKD1) gene on chromosome 16p13.3. The ABC3
gene is expressed at highest levels in lung compared to other tissues.
(C) 1997 Academic Press