Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Thwaites, Dr Catriona AndersonORCiD
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
The absorption of zwitterionic imino and amino acids, and related drugs, is an essential function of the small intestinal epithelium. This review focuses on the physiological roles of transporters recently identified at the molecular level, in particular SLC36A1, by identifying how they relate to the classical epithelial imino and amino acid transporters characterised in mammalian small intestine in the 1960s-1990s. SLC36A1 transports a number of d- and l-imino and amino acids, β- and γ-amino acids and orally-active neuromodulatory and antibacterial agents. SLC36A1 (or PAT1) functions as a proton-coupled imino and amino acid symporter in cooperation with the Na+/H+ exchanger NHE3 (SLC9A3) to produce the imino acid carrier identified in rat small intestine in the 1960s but subsequently ignored because of confusion with the IMINO transporter. However, it is the sodium/imino and amino acid cotransporter SLC6A20 which corresponds to the betaine carrier (identified in hamster, 1960s) and IMINO transporter (identified in rabbit and guinea pig, 1980s). This review summarises evidence for expression of SLC36A1 and SLC6A20 in human small intestine, highlights the differences in functional characteristics of the imino acid carrier and IMINO transporter, and explains the confusion surrounding these two distinct transport systems. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Author(s): Thwaites DT, Anderson CMH
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Biomembranes
Year: 2007
Volume: 1768
Issue: 2
Pages: 179-197
Print publication date: 01/02/2007
ISSN (print): 0005-2736
ISSN (electronic): 0006-3002
Publisher: Elsevier BV
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2006.10.001
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2006.10.001
PubMed id: 17123464
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
