A Call for Systematic Research on Solute Carriers

Adrián César-Razquin; Berend Snijder; Tristan Frappier-Brinton; Ruth Isserlin; Gergely Gyimesi; Xiaoyun Bai; Reinhart A Reithmeier; David Hepworth; Matthias A Hediger; Aled M Edwards; Giulio Superti-Furga

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.022

A Call for Systematic Research on Solute Carriers

Cell. 2015 Jul 30;162(3):478-87. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.022.

Affiliations

¹ CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
² Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada.
³ The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3E1, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and Swiss National Center of Competence in Research, NCCR TransCure, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8 Canada.
⁶ Worldwide Medicinal Chemistry, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
⁷ Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and Swiss National Center of Competence in Research, NCCR TransCure, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: matthias.hediger@ibmm.unibe.ch.
⁸ Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1L7, Canada. Electronic address: aled.edwards@utoronto.ca.
⁹ CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: gsuperti@cemm.oeaw.ac.at.

PMID: 26232220
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.07.022

Abstract

Solute carrier (SLC) membrane transport proteins control essential physiological functions, including nutrient uptake, ion transport, and waste removal. SLCs interact with several important drugs, and a quarter of the more than 400 SLC genes are associated with human diseases. Yet, compared to other gene families of similar stature, SLCs are relatively understudied. The time is right for a systematic attack on SLC structure, specificity, and function, taking into account kinship and expression, as well as the dependencies that arise from the common metabolic space.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomedical Research
Drug Discovery
Gene Expression
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genome-Wide Association Study
Humans
Membrane Transport Proteins / chemistry
Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

Membrane Transport Proteins