Review
The ABCs of membrane transporters in health and disease (SLC series): Introduction,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mam.2012.12.009Get rights and content
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Abstract

The field of transport biology has steadily grown over the past decade and is now recognized as playing an important role in manifestation and treatment of disease. The SLC (solute carrier) gene series has grown to now include 52 families and 395 transporter genes in the human genome. A list of these genes can be found at the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) website (see www.genenames.org/genefamilies/SLC). This special issue features mini-reviews for each of these SLC families written by the experts in each field. The existing online resource for solute carriers, the Bioparadigms SLC Tables (www.bioparadigms.org), has been updated and significantly extended with additional information and cross-links to other relevant databases, and the nomenclature used in this database has been validated and approved by the HGNC. In addition, the Bioparadigms SLC Tables functionality has been improved to allow easier access by the scientific community. This introduction includes: an overview of all known SLC and “non-SLC” transporter genes; a list of transporters of water soluble vitamins; a summary of recent progress in the structure determination of transporters (including GLUT1/SLC2A1); roles of transporters in human diseases and roles in drug approval and pharmaceutical perspectives.

Keywords

Transporter
Carrier
Nomenclature
Solute carrier genes
SLC
Exchanger
Cotransporter
Uniporter
Symporter
Antiporter
Ion transport
Solute transport
Coupled transport
Channel
Pump
ABC transporter
Aquaporin
Water soluble vitamins
Structure
Membrane proteins
Glucose transporter
Diabetes
GLUT1
SLC2A1

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Publication in part sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation through the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) TransCure, University of Bern, Switzerland; Director Matthias A. Hediger; Web: www.transcure.ch.

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