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Regulation of CAT: Cationic amino acid transporter gene expression

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Summary

The majority of mammalian cationic amino acid transport is mediated by the transport system y+ which facilitates Na+ independent cationic amino acid (arginine, lysine, & ornithine) transport and Na+ dependent zwitterionic amino acid (glutamine & homoserine) transport. Other transport systems y+L, b0,+ and B0,+ also mediate cationic amino acid transport. Their broad substrate specificities and overlapping expression patterns confound biochemical analysis. The isolation of cDNA clones has permitted an analysis of their regulation and opens the opportunity to define the role of each protein in specific cell types. Two genes,Cat1 andCat2 encode transporters with properties similar to the y+ transport system. Thecat2 gene from the mouse encodes two distinct proteins. mCAT2, and mCAT2A via alternate splicing; each protein has distinctly different transport properties. The regulation of mCAT1, mCAT2 and mCAT2A proteins are reviewed here. The implications of this gene specific regulation on cationic amino acid transport is discussed.

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Abbreviations

VSMC:

vascular smooth muscle cells

NO:

nitric oxide

NOS:

nitric oxide synthase

LPS:

lipopolysacharide

INF-γ :

interferon gamma

RT/PCR:

reverse transcriptase, polymerase chain reaction

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  1. D. K. Kakuda

    Present address: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Brisbane, Australia

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  1. Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego and Cancer Center Cancer Genetics Program, 9500 Gilman Drive, 92093-0684, La Jolla, California, USA

    C. L. MacLeod & D. K. Kakuda

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MacLeod, C.L., Kakuda, D.K. Regulation of CAT: Cationic amino acid transporter gene expression. Amino Acids 11, 171–191 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00813859

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