scholarly journals The SLC2A14 gene: genomic locus, tissue expression, splice variants, and subcellular localization of the protein

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandana Amir Shaghaghi ◽  
Brent Murphy ◽  
Peter Eck

The SLC2A14 gene encodes for GLUT14, an orphan member of the facilitated membrane glucose transporter family, which was originally described to be exclusively expressed in human testis. However, genetic variations in SLC2A14 are associated with chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which cannot be explained by a strictly testicular expression. Therefore we analyzed available information on the SLC2A14 gene to update knowledge of the locus and its encoded products. This report presents an expanded SLC2A14 gene locus and a more diverse tissue expression, concurring with the existing evidence for disease associations. The exon utilization is tissue specific, with major expression in testis. When the 2 major testicular protein isoforms were expressed in mammalian cells, they located to the plasmalemma membrane, providing early evidence that GLUT14 could function as a membrane transporter.

1994 ◽  
Vol 196 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108
Author(s):  
D K Kakuda ◽  
C L MacLeod

Recent advances have made possible the isolation of the genes and their cDNAs encoding Na(+)-independent amino acid transporters. Two classes of amino acid 'uniporters' have been isolated. One class contains the mCAT (murine cationic amino acid transporter) gene family that encodes proteins predicted to span the membrane 12-14 times and exhibits structural properties similar to the GLUT (glucose transporter) family and to other well-known transporters. The other class consists of two known genes, rBAT (related to B system amino acid transporters) and 4F2hc, that share amino acid sequence similarity with alpha-amylases and alpha-glucosidases. They are type II glycoproteins predicted to span the membrane only once, yet they mediate the Na(+)-independent transport of cationic and zwitterionic amino acids in Xenopus oocytes. Mutations in the human rBAT gene have been identified by Palacín and his co-workers in several families suffering from a heritable form of cystinuria. This important finding clearly establishes a key role for rBAT in cystine transport. The two classes of amino acid transporters are compared with the well-studied GLUT family of Na(+)-independent glucose transporters.


2012 ◽  
Vol 303 (4) ◽  
pp. F527-F539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Witkowska ◽  
Kyla M. Smith ◽  
Sylvia Y. M. Yao ◽  
Amy M. L. Ng ◽  
Debbie O'Neill ◽  
...  

Human SLC2A9 (GLUT9) is a novel high-capacity urate transporter belonging to the facilitated glucose transporter family. In the present study, heterologous expression in Xenopus oocytes has allowed us to undertake an in-depth radiotracer flux and electrophysiological study of urate transport mediated by both isoforms of SLC2A9 (a and b). Addition of urate to SLC2A9-producing oocytes generated outward currents, indicating electrogenic transport. Urate transport by SLC2A9 was voltage dependent and independent of the Na+ transmembrane gradient. Urate-induced outward currents were affected by the extracellular concentration of Cl−, but there was no evidence for exchange of the two anions. [14C]urate flux studies under non-voltage-clamped conditions demonstrated symmetry of influx and efflux, suggesting that SLC2A9 functions in urate efflux driven primarily by the electrochemical gradient of the cell. Urate uptake in the presence of intracellular hexoses showed marked differences between the two isoforms, suggesting functional differences between the two splice variants. Finally, the permeant selectivity of SLC2A9 was examined by testing the ability to transport a panel of radiolabeled purine and pyrimidine nucleobases. SLC2A9 mediated the uptake of adenine in addition to urate, but did not function as a generalized nucleobase transporter. The differential expression pattern of the two isoforms of SLC2A9 in the human kidney's proximal convoluted tubule and its electrogenic transport of urate suggest that these transporters play key roles in the regulation of plasma urate levels and are therefore potentially important participants in hyperuricemia and hypouricemia.


Author(s):  
Dale E. McClendon ◽  
Paul N. Morgan ◽  
Bernard L. Soloff

It has been observed that minute amounts of venom from the brown recluse spider, Loxosceles reclusa, are capable of producing cytotoxic changes in cultures of certain mammalian cells (Morgan and Felton, 1965). Since there is little available information concerning the effect of venoms on susceptible cells, we have attempted to characterize, at the electron microscope level, the cytotoxic changes produced by the venom of this spider.Cultures of human epithelial carcinoma cells, strain HeLa, were initiated on sterile, carbon coated coverslips contained in Leighton tubes. Each culture was seeded with approximately 1x105 cells contained in 1.5 ml of a modified Eagle's minimum essential growth medium prepared in Hank's balanced salt solution. Cultures were incubated at 36° C. for three days prior to the addition of venom. The venom was collected from female brown recluse spiders and diluted in sterile saline. Protein determinations on the venom-were made according to the spectrophotometric method of Waddell (1956). Approximately 10 μg venom protein per ml of fresh medium was added to each culture after discarding the old growth medium. Control cultures were treated similarly, except that no venom was added. All cultures were reincubated at 36° C.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 3752-3763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Thorpe ◽  
Vanessa A. Marrero ◽  
Margaret H. Savitzky ◽  
Ivana Sunjevaric ◽  
Tom C. Freeman ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The RAD52 gene is essential for homologous recombination in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RAD52 is the archetype in an epistasis group of genes essential for DNA damage repair. By catalyzing the replacement of replication protein A with Rad51 on single-stranded DNA, Rad52 likely promotes strand invasion of a double-stranded DNA molecule by single-stranded DNA. Although the sequence and in vitro functions of mammalian RAD52 are conserved with those of yeast, one difference is the presence of introns and consequent splicing of the mammalian RAD52 pre-mRNA. We identified two novel splice variants from the RAD52 gene that are expressed in adult mouse tissues. Expression of these splice variants in tissue culture cells elevates the frequency of recombination that uses a sister chromatid template. To characterize this dominant phenotype further, the RAD52 gene from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was truncated to model the mammalian splice variants. The same dominant sister chromatid recombination phenotype seen in mammalian cells was also observed in yeast. Furthermore, repair from a homologous chromatid is reduced in yeast, implying that the choice of alternative repair pathways may be controlled by these variants. In addition, a dominant DNA repair defect induced by one of the variants in yeast is suppressed by overexpression of RAD51, suggesting that the Rad51-Rad52 interaction is impaired.


1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
G N Europe-Finner ◽  
E Cartwright ◽  
J Bellinger ◽  
H J Mardon ◽  
D H Barlow ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Granulosa cells are essential for follicular development and corpus luteum formation and their functions are regulated by gonadotrophins through G protein-coupled receptors. The dominant second messenger pathway involves the stimulation of cyclic AMP formation by Gαs-linked receptors. In this paper we have investigated the expression of Gαs mRNA splice variants in relation to expression of Gαs protein isoforms in granulosa cells obtained from patients undergoing in vitro fertilization. We have carried out ribonuclease protection assays using cRNA riboprobes which are capable of detecting all Gαs mRNA isoforms as well as quantifying total amounts of Gαs mRNA. Granulosa cells express the message for Gαs-Large and Gαs-Small and the presence of two distinct protein products was confirmed by immunoblotting using the antibody RM/1. Moreover, the data show that a significant fraction of Gαs-Large and Gαs-Small mRNAs contain an extra CAG codon. This should generate proteins with an extra serine residue, resulting in Gαs variants with the consensus sequence of a protein kinase C phosphorylation site. These results highlight the possible interaction between different signalling pathways in the control of cAMP production and the need to investigate the relationship between Gαs variants and different adenylyl cyclase isozymes in patients with normal and abnormal ovarian function.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1402-1414 ◽  
Author(s):  
René E. M. A. van Herpen ◽  
Ralph J. A. Oude Ophuis ◽  
Mietske Wijers ◽  
Miranda B. Bennink ◽  
Fons A. J. van de Loo ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Myotonic dystrophy protein kinase (DMPK) is a Ser/Thr-type protein kinase with unknown function, originally identified as the product of the gene that is mutated by triplet repeat expansion in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Alternative splicing of DMPK transcripts results in multiple protein isoforms carrying distinct C termini. Here, we demonstrate by expressing individual DMPKs in various cell types, including C2C12 and DMPK −/− myoblast cells, that unique sequence arrangements in these tails control the specificity of anchoring into intracellular membranes. Mouse DMPK A and C were found to associate specifically with either the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or the mitochondrial outer membrane, whereas the corresponding human DMPK A and C proteins both localized to mitochondria. Expression of mouse and human DMPK A—but not C—isoforms in mammalian cells caused clustering of ER or mitochondria. Membrane association of DMPK isoforms was resistant to alkaline conditions, and mutagenesis analysis showed that proper anchoring was differentially dependent on basic residues flanking putative transmembrane domains, demonstrating that DMPK tails form unique tail anchors. This work identifies DMPK as the first kinase in the class of tail-anchored proteins, with a possible role in organelle distribution and dynamics.


Diabetologia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-210
Author(s):  
Stephany Daniela Villota ◽  
Maria Toledo-Rodriguez ◽  
Lopa Leach

Abstract Aims/hypothesis Reduced occupancy of junctional occludin is a feature of human placental vessels in the diabetic milieu. However, the functional consequence of this and whether this loss is due to differential expression of occludin splice variants is not known. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and its treatment, on endothelial junctional integrity, gene and protein expression of occludin splice variants, and potential regulation of expression by microRNAs (miRNAs). Methods Term placentas were obtained from normal pregnancies (n = 21), and pregnancies complicated by GDM where glucose levels were controlled by diet (n = 11) or metformin (n = 6). Gene and microRNA (miRNA) expression were determined by quantitative real-time PCR; protein expression by immunoblotting; endothelial junctional occupancy by fluorescence microscopy and systematic sampling; and paracellular leakage by perfusion of placental microvascular beds with 76 Mr dextran. Transfection studies of miRNAs that target OCLN were performed in HUVECs, and the trans-endothelial electrical resistance and tracer permeability of the HUVECs were measured. Results All three predicted OCLN gene splice variants and two occludin protein isoforms were found in human placental samples. In placental samples from diet-controlled GDM (d-GDM) pregnancies we found a lower percentage of conduit vessels showing occludin immunoreactivity (12%, p < 0.01), decreased levels of the fully functional occludin isoform-A protein (29%), and differential gene expression of OCLN variant 2 (33% decrease), variant 3 (3.3-fold increase). These changes were not seen in samples from the group with metformin-controlled GDM. In d-GDM placentas, increased numbers of conduit microvessels demonstrated extravasation of 76 Mr dextran (2.0-fold). In d-GDM expression of one of the five potential miRNAs targeting OCLN, miR-181a-5p, expression was 2.1-fold that in normal pregnancies. Experimental overexpression of miR-181a-5p in HUVECs from normal pregnancies resulted in a highly significant downregulation of OCLN variant 1 (69%) and variant 2 (46%) gene expression, with decreased trans-endothelial resistance (78%) and increase in tracer permeability (1.3-fold). Conclusions/interpretation Downregulation of expression of OCLN variant 2 and the fully functional occludin isoform-A protein are a feature of placentas in d-GDM pregnancies. These may be behind the loss of junctional occludin and the increased extravasation of exogenous dextran observed. miR-181a-5p was in part responsible for the downregulation of occludin in placentas from d-GDM pregnancies. Induced overexpression of miR-181a-5p compromised the integrity of the endothelial barrier. Our data suggest that, despite good glucose control, the adoption of lifestyle changes alone during a GDM pregnancy may not be enough to prevent an alteration in the expression of occludin and the subsequent functional consequences in placentas and impaired vascular barrier function in offspring.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Grosjean ◽  
Pasquale Esposito ◽  
Rosario Maccarrone ◽  
Carmelo Libetta ◽  
Antonio Dal Canton ◽  
...  

Introduction. Retinol Binding Protein 4 (RBP4) is mainly excreted by the kidney and plays a pivotal role in insulin resistance (IR). In our study, we evaluated the association between RBP4 and IR in hemodialysis subjects (HD). We also assessed how circulating RBP4 could be influenced by kidney transplant or different dialytic techniques.Methods. RBP4 serum levels were evaluated in HD (n=16) and matched healthy controls (C;n=16). RBP4 and glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) mRNA expressions were also determined in adipose tissue. Circulating RBP4 was evaluated after kidney transplant (n=7) and in hemodialysis patients (n=10) enrolled in a cross-over study treated with standard bicarbonate dialysis (BD) or hemodiafiltration (HDF).Results. HOMA index (P<0.05) and serum RBP4 (P<0.005) were higher in HD compared to C. RBP4 levels positively correlated with fasting serum glucose (P<0.05). RBP4 mRNA was lower in HD compared to C (P<0.05) and positively correlated with kidney function (P<0.05) and GLUT4 mRNA (P<0.001). Transplant or HDF reduced circulating RBP4 (P<0.01andP<0.05, resp.). Our results demonstrate that IR is associated with high circulating RBP4 and that suppressed RBP4 adipose tissue expression is accompanied by reduced GLUT4 expression in HD. Renal transplantation or HDF are effective in lowering serum RBP4 levels.


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