Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) transporter systems are divided into importers and exporters that facilitate the movement of diverse substrate molecules across the lipid bilayer, against the concentration gradient. These transporters comprise two highly conserved nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) and two transmembrane domains (TMDs). Unlike ABC exporters, prokaryotic ABC importers require an additional substrate-binding protein (SBP) as a recognition site for specific substrate translocation. The discovery of a large number of ABC systems in bacterial pathogens revealed that these transporters are crucial for the establishment of bacterial infections. The existing literature has highlighted the roles of ABC transporters in bacterial growth, pathogenesis, and virulence. These roles include importing essential nutrients required for a variety of cellular processes and exporting outer membrane-associated virulence factors and antimicrobial substances. This review outlines the general structures and classification of ABC systems to provide a comprehensive view of the activities and roles of ABC transporters associated with bacterial virulence and pathogenesis during infection.
腺苷三磷酸结合盒转运蛋白（ATP-binding cassette transporter proteins，ABC转运蛋白）具有向外和向内两种转运方式，能通过克服浓度梯度协助多种底物分子在磷脂双分子层中运输。这些转运蛋白具有两个高度保守的核苷酸结合区域（NBDs）和两个跨膜结构域（TMDs）。与ABC向外转运蛋白不同，原核生物的ABC向内转运蛋白还需额外的底物结合蛋白（SBP）作为特定底物转运的识别位点。大量研究发现在细菌致病体中存在许多ABC转运蛋白，提示这些转运蛋白对细菌感染的建立至关重要。现有研究证实，ABC转运蛋白在细菌生长、致病和毒力方面发挥作用，包括导入细胞活动所需的必要营养物质，以及输出与外膜相关的毒力因子和抗微生物物质等。本文对ABC转运蛋白的经典结构和最新分类进行综述，以便全面了解与细菌毒力和致病性相关的ABC转运蛋白在细菌感染期间的活动与作用。.
Keywords: ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter; Bacterial pathogenesis; Virulence.