Abstract
The sodium/glucose cotransporter family (SLCA5) has 220 or more members in animal and bacterial cells. There are 11 human genes expressed in tissues ranging from epithelia to the central nervous system. The functions of nine have been revealed by studies using heterologous expression systems: six are tightly coupled plasma membrane Na+/substrate cotransporters for solutes such as glucose, myo-inositol and iodide; one is a Na+/Cl−/choline cotransporter; one is an anion transporter; and another is a glucose-activated ion channel. The exon organization of eight genes is similar in that each comprises 14–15 exons. The choline transporter (CHT) is encoded in eight exons and the Na+-dependent myo-inositol transporter (SMIT) in one exon. Mutations in three genes produce genetic diseases (glucose-galactose malabsorption, renal glycosuria and hypothyroidism). Members of this family are multifunctional membrane proteins in that they also behave as uniporters, urea and water channels, and urea and water cotransporters. Consequently it is a challenge to determine the role(s) of these genes in human physiology and pathology.
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Acknowledgements
Our research on SLC5 over the past two decades has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (DK19567; DK44602 and DK44582) and has been made possible by the talent of students, fellows and collaborators cited in the references.
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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00424-003-1202-0
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Wright, E.M., Turk, E. The sodium/glucose cotransport family SLC5. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol 447, 510–518 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-003-1063-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-003-1063-6