ABCG1--a potential therapeutic target for atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells, the initial step of reverse cholesterol transport, is assumed to be the most relevant step with respect to atherosclerosis. As one of the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABC) family members, ABCG1 plays a critical role in the process of cholesterol efflux. It has been recently identified to export cellular cholesterol to large HDL particles. For mature HDL constitutes the bulk of the plasma HDL, ABCG1 is responsible for the majority of the cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells to serum. Overexpression of ABCG1 improves HDL function through stimulating cholesterol export. Therefore, it could be hypothesized that ABCG1 would be a new target for the treatment of atherosclerosis.