We work to identify which drug substances interact with transport proteins in the cell's different membranes.
Within transport proteins two groups in particular are relevant in the pharmaceutical context:
- Solute Carriers are transport proteins that move substances in and out of the cell based on the direction of gradients.
- ABC transporters transport drugs across a membrane under consumption of cellular ATP.
Both LCLs and ABCs can affect how a drug is absorbed, for example from the gut, but also how a substance enters the brain, kidneys or liver.
Our research area is therefore concentrated on, which pharmaceutical substances move across membranes via the transport proteins and what this means for the use of the drug in situations where a patient may also be getting other medicines.
Our studies are primarily based on cell models that can be grown in a cell laboratory. We have a wide range of cell models of human or animal origin that are isolated from different tissues. This makes it possible to study, how transport proteins contribute to the transport of substances in different tissues, but also which transport proteins are expressed and how they change their quantity in different situations – this is done by advanced analytical-chemical methods. Based on mechanical studies of drug-transport protein interactions, we work to understand how we can develop pharmaceutical formulations to improve bioavailability, drug delivery for infections and cancer and understand drug-drug interactions caused by drug carriers.
The education in Pharmaceutic Technology is based on the research within this area.