Background of the antigen
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are an evolutionarily conserved family of widely-expressed proteins that use ATP hydrolysis to catalyze the transport of various molecules across extracellular and intracellular membranes. As the largest family of transmembrane proteins, ABC genes comprise several subfamilies (ABC1, ABCA, ABCE, ABCF, MDR/TAP, MRP, ALD, OABP, GCN20 and White (also known as ABCG)). In bacteria, ABC transporters are used to import compunds that cannot be obtained by diffusion. Eukaryotic ABC transporters are largely responsible for trafficking hydrophobic compounds either within the cell as part of a metabolic process or outside the cell for transport to other organs, or for secretion from the body. ABCB9 (also designated Transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP)-like or TAPL) forms a homodimer, which is localized in lysosomes. It functions as an ATP-dependent peptide transporter that shows a broad peptide specificity ranging from 6-mer up to 59-mer peptides. ABCB9 transports these peptides with low affinity but high efficiency.
