Heteromeric amino acid transporters: biochemistry, genetics, and physiology (original) (raw)
Related papers
The EMBO Journal, 1999
Amino acid transport across cellular membranes is mediated by multiple transporters with overlapping specificities. We recently have identified the vertebrate proteins which mediate Na ⍣ -independent exchange of large neutral amino acids corresponding to transport system L. This transporter consists of a novel amino acid permease-related protein (LAT1 or AmAT-L-lc) which for surface expression and function requires formation of disulfide-linked heterodimers with the glycosylated heavy chain of the h4F2/CD98 surface antigen. We show that h4F2hc also associates with other mammalian light chains, e.g. y ⍣ LAT1 from mouse and human which are~48% identical with LAT1 and thus belong to the same family of glycoprotein-associated amino acid transporters. The novel heterodimers form exchangers which mediate the cellular efflux of cationic amino acids and the Na ⍣dependent uptake of large neutral amino acids. These transport characteristics and kinetic and pharmacological fingerprints identify them as y ⍣ L-type transport systems. The mRNA encoding my ⍣ LAT1 is detectable in most adult tissues and expressed at high levels in kidney cortex and intestine. This suggests that the y ⍣ LAT1-4F2hc heterodimer, besides participating in amino acid uptake/secretion in many cell types, is the basolateral amino acid exchanger involved in transepithelial reabsorption of cationic amino acids; hence, its defect might be the cause of the human genetic disease lysinuric protein intolerance.
The genetics of heteromeric amino acid transporters
Physiology (Bethesda, Md.), 2005
Heteromeric amino acid transporters (HATs) are composed of a heavy (SLC3 family) and a light (SLC7 family) subunit. Mutations in system b(0,+) (rBAT-b(0,+)AT) and in system y(+)L (4F2hc-y(+)LAT1) cause the primary inherited aminoacidurias (PIAs) cystinuria and lysinuric protein intolerance, respectively. Recent developments [including the identification of the first Hartnup disorder gene (B0AT1; SLC6A19)] and knockout mouse models have begun to reveal the basis of renal and intestinal reabsorption of amino acids in mammals.
The amino acid transport system y/L/4F2hc is a heteromultimeric complex
4F2hc is an almost ubiquitous transmembrane protein in mammalian cells; upon expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes, it induces amino acid transport with characteristics of system y / L. Indirect evidence fostered speculation that function requires the association of 4F2hc with another protein endogenous to oocytes and native tissues. We show that expression of system y / L-like amino acid transport activity by 4F2hc in oocytes is limited by an endogenous factor and that direct covalent modification of external cysteine residue(s) of an oocyte membrane protein blocks system y / L/4F2hc transport activity, based on the following. 1) Induction of system y / Llike activity saturates at very low doses of human 4F2hc cRNA (0.1 ng/oocyte). This saturation occurs with very low expression of 4F2hc at the oocyte surface, and further increased expression of the protein at the cell surface does not result in higher induction of system y / L-like activity. 2) Human 4F2hc contains only two cysteine residues (C109 and C330). We mutated these residues, singly and in combination, to serine (C109S; CS1, C330S; CS2 and C109S-C330S, Cys-less). Mutation CS2 had no effect on the expressed system y / L-like transport activity, whereas C109S-containing mutants (CS1 and Cys-less) retained only partial y / L-like transport activity (30 to 50% of wild type). 3) Hg 2/ , the organic mercury compounds pCMB, and the membrane-impermeant p-CMBS almost completely inactivated system y / L-like induced by human 4F2hc wild type and all the mutants studied. This was reversed by b-mercaptoethanol, indicating that external cysteine residue(s) are the target of this inactivation. 4) Sensitivity to Hg 2/ inactivation is increased by pretreatment of oocytes with b-mercaptoethanol or in the C109S-containing mutants (CS1 and Cys-less). The increased Hg 2/ reactivity of C109S-containing mutants supports the possibility that C109 may be linked by a disulfide bond to the Hg 2/ -targeted cysteine residue of the associated protein. These results indicate that 4F2hc is intimately associated with a membrane oocyte protein for the expression of system y / L amino acid transport activity. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence for a heteromultimeric protein structure of an organic solute carrier in mammals.-Estévez, R., Camps, M., Rojas, A. M., Testar, X., Devés, R., Hediger, M. A., Zorzano, A., Palacín, M. The amino acid transport system y / L/4F2hc is a heteromultimeric complex. FASEB J. 12, 1319-1329 (1998)
Function and structure of heterodimeric amino acid transporters
American journal of physiology. Cell physiology, 2001
Heterodimeric amino acid transporters are comprised of two subunits, a polytopic membrane protein (light chain) and an associated type II membrane protein (heavy chain). The heavy chain rbAT (related to b(0,+) amino acid transporter) associates with the light chain b(0,+)AT (b(0,+) amino acid transporter) to form the amino acid transport system b(0,+), whereas the homologous heavy chain 4F2hc interacts with several light chains to form system L (with LAT1 and LAT2), system y(+)L (with y(+)LAT1 and y(+)LAT2), system x (with xAT), or system asc (with asc1). The association of light chains with the two heavy chains is not unambiguous. rbAT may interact with LAT2 and y(+)LAT1 and vice versa; 4F2hc may interact with b(0,+)AT when overexpressed. 4F2hc is necessary for trafficking of the light chain to the plasma membrane, whereas the light chains are thought to determine the transport characteristics of the respective heterodimer. In contrast to 4F2hc, mutations in rbAT suggest that rbAT ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014
Heteromeric amino acid transporters (HATs) are the unique example, known in all kingdoms of life, of solute transporters composed of two subunits linked by a conserved disulfide bridge. In metazoans, the heavy subunit is responsible for the trafficking of the heterodimer to the plasma membrane, and the light subunit is the transporter. HATs are involved in human pathologies such as amino acidurias, tumor growth and invasion, viral infection and cocaine addiction. However structural information about interactions between the heavy and light subunits of HATs is scarce. In this work, transmission electron microscopy and single-particle analysis of purified human 4F2hc/L-type amino acid transporter 2 (LAT2) heterodimers overexpressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris, together with docking analysis and crosslinking experiments, reveal that the extracellular domain of 4F2hc interacts with LAT2, almost completely covering the extracellular face of the transporter. 4F2hc increases the stability of the light subunit LAT2 in detergent-solubilized Pichia membranes, allowing functional reconstitution of the heterodimer into proteoliposomes. Moreover, the extracellular domain of 4F2hc suffices to stabilize solubilized LAT2. The interaction of 4F2hc with LAT2 gives insights into the structural bases for light subunit recognition and the stabilizing role of the ancillary protein in HATs.
Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, 2012
Amino acid transport across the plasma membrane is mediated via amino acid transporters situated on the plasma membrane. Amino acid transporters were originally described as amino acid transport systems (1). Among them, system L, a Na +-independent neutral amino acid transport agency, is a major route for living cells to take up neutral amino acids including branched-chain or aromatic amino acids (1). By means of expression cloning, we isolated a cDNA encoding the first isoform of system L transporter named LAT1 (L-type amino acid transporter 1, SLC7A5) (2). Following LAT1, we furthermore identified the second isoform of system L transporter named LAT2 (L-type amino acid transporter 2, SLC7A8) (3). LAT1 or LAT2 forms heterodimers via a disulfide bond with the heavy chain of 4F2 antigen (4F2hc), which is essential for the proper targeting of LAT1 and LAT2 to the plasma membrane (4). In normal tissues, mRNA of LAT1 has been detected
The role of amino acid transporters in inherited and acquired diseases
Biochemical Journal, 2011
Amino acids are essential building blocks of all mammalian cells. In addition to their role in protein synthesis, amino acids play an important role as energy fuels, precursors for a variety of metabolites and as signalling molecules. Disorders associated with the malfunction of amino acid transporters reflect the variety of roles that they fulfil in human physiology. Mutations of brain amino acid transporters affect neuronal excitability. Mutations of renal and intestinal amino acid transporters affect whole-body homoeostasis, resulting in malabsorption and renal problems. Amino acid transporters that are integral parts of metabolic pathways reduce the function of these pathways. Finally, amino acid uptake is essential for cell growth, thereby explaining their role in tumour progression. The present review summarizes the involvement of amino acid transporters in these roles as illustrated by diseases resulting from transporter malfunction.
Amino Acid Transport Across Mammalian Intestinal and Renal Epithelia
Physiological Reviews, 2008
The transport of amino acids in kidney and intestine is critical for the supply of amino acids to all tissues and the homeostasis of plasma amino acid levels. This is illustrated by a number of inherited disorders affecting amino acid transport in epithelial cells, such as cystinuria, lysinuric protein intolerance, Hartnup disorder, iminoglycinuria, dicarboxylic aminoaciduria, and some other less well-described disturbances of amino acid transport. The identification of most epithelial amino acid transporters over the past 15 years allows the definition of these disorders at the molecular level and provides a clear picture of the functional cooperation between transporters in the apical and basolateral membranes of mammalian epithelial cells. Transport of amino acids across the apical membrane not only makes use of sodium-dependent symporters, but also uses the proton-motive force and the gradient of other amino acids to efficiently absorb amino acids from the lumen. In the basolate...
1999
We have identified a new human cDNA, L-amino acid transporter-2 (LAT-2), that induces a system L transport activity with 4F2hc (the heavy chain of the surface antigen 4F2, also named CD98) in oocytes. Human LAT-2 is the fourth member of the family of amino acid transporters that are subunits of 4F2hc. The amino acid transport activity induced by the co-expression of 4F2hc and LAT-2 was sodium-independent and showed broad specificity for small and large zwitterionic amino acids, as well as bulky analogs (e.g. BCH (2aminobicyclo-(2,2,1)-heptane-2-carboxylic acid)). This transport activity was highly trans-stimulated, suggesting an exchanger mechanism of transport. Expression of tagged N-myc-LAT-2 alone in oocytes did not induce amino acid transport, and the protein had an intracellular location. Co-expression of N-myc-LAT-2 and 4F2hc gave amino acid transport induction and expression of N-myc-LAT-2 at the plasma membrane of the oocytes. These data suggest that LAT-2 is an additional member of the family of 4F2 light chain subunits, which associates with 4F2hc to express a system L transport activity with broad specificity for zwitterionic amino acids. Human LAT-2 mRNA is expressed in kidney >>> placenta > > brain, liver > spleen, skeletal muscle, heart, small intestine, and lung. Human LAT-2 gene localizes at chromosome 14q11.2-13 (13 cR or ϳ286 kb from marker D14S1349). The high expression of LAT-2 mRNA in epithelial cells of proximal tubules, the basolateral location of 4F2hc in these cells, and the amino acid transport activity of LAT-2 suggest that this transporter contributes to the renal reabsorption of neutral amino acids in the basolateral domain of epithelial proximal tubule cells.
Regulation and Genetics of Amino Acid Transport
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1985
The major transport systems for the uptake of neutral amino acids in mammalian cells have been designated A, ASC, and L.',' The transport systems and their regulation have been characterized in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) System A is sodium-dependent, subject to trans-inhibition, and serves for the uptake of amino acids with short, polar, or linear side chains. System ASC is also sodium dependent and has a strong preference for alanine, serine, and cysteine. In the C H O cell, the ASC system shows a somewhat broader specificity than that found in the Ehrlich cell.* Unlike System A, System ASC does not tolerate N-methylated substrates such as 2-methylaminoisobutyric acid (MeAIB). System L is sodium-independent and serves for the uptake of branched-chain and aromatic amino acids. We operationally define the systems as follows: System A can be represented by the sodium-dependent uptake of 0.2 m M 2-arninoisobutyric acid (AIB) that is inhibited by 25 m M MeAIB; System ASC, the sodium-dependent uptake of 0.2 m M L-alanine that is not inhibited by 25 m M MeAIB; and System L, the sodium-independent uptake of 0.2 m M L-leucine that is inhibited by 10 mM 2-aminobicyclo-[2,2,1]-heptane-2-carboxylic acid (BCH).3 Although the systems have a preferred set of substrates, they do have overlapping specificities. FIGURE 1 shows the contributions of these systems to the uptake of individual amino acids in CHO-K1 cells. This overlap makes the study of transport systems in isolation difficult. The availability of mutations in one or more of the transport systems would greatly facilitate the study of the function and regulation of the transport systems. We are currently combining genetic approaches with kinetic studies using C H O cells because of the relative ease with which mutants can be obtained from these cells. Furthermore, C H O cells can be used to form interspecies hybrids with human cells.' The hamster-human hybrid cells preferentially segregate the human chromosomes, permitting the assignment of a phenotype to a particular chromosome. In the present study, we have isolated and characterized C H O mutants defective in the regulation of System L6 and mutants with reduced System L transport activity. We have also used hamster-human hybrids to map System L transport activity to human chromosome 20.' 404 OXENDER et al.: AMINO-ACID TRANSPORT 405 MATERIALS AND METHODS Cell Lines and Culture Methods The CHO-K1 and CHO-tsH1 cell lines were obtained from Dr. L. H. Thompson of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore, California. These cell lines were maintained as described previo~sly.~" The temperature-resistant cell lines C11, C11 B6, D10, and F10 were isolated in our lab and maintained as described previously.6 The transport mutant cell lines C5, C5F6, C9, and D3 were maintained in Eagle's minimal essential medium (MEM) containing Earle's salts and nonessential amino acids, supplemented with 5% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum (KC Biological, Lenexa, KS),