Topological polar surface area defines substrate transport by multidrug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1).

Multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1/ABCC1) is a very promiscuous transporter. Herein we used topological polar surface area (TPSA), a descriptor defined as the sum of surfaces of polar atoms in a molecule, to analyze drug transport by MRP1. We suggested that compounds with high TPSA are transported while those with low TPSA are not. The conjugation to GSH increases TPSA values favoring transport. A strong correlation between TPSA and transport properties (K(m)) was also found.