Solute Carrier Family 16, Member 7 (SLC16A7)

Tissues with few or no mitochondria, such as erythrocytes and tumor cells, depend largely on glycolysis to generate ATP. The major end products of glycolysis, pyruvate and lactate, must be eliminated from these cells to enable continued glycolytic flux and prevent toxic effects. Proton/monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) mediate the transport of lactate and pyruvate.

Like MCT1, MCT2 contains 12 putative transmembrane domains with a lengthy hydrophilic segment between transmembrane domains 6 and 7. MCT2 is composed of 41% hydrophobic residues, which the authors suggested might account for the discrepancy between its calculated molecular mass of 52 kD and its migration as a 40-kD protein by SDS-PAGE.