Glucose Transporter 6 (GLUT6)

Hexose transport into mammalian cells is catalyzed by a family of membrane proteins, including SLC2A6, that contain 12 transmembrane domains and a number of critical conserved residues. By searching an EST database for glucose transporter (GLUT)-like sequences, followed by RT-PCR using leukocyte RNA, Doege et al. (2000) obtained a cDNA encoding SLC2A6, which they called GLUT9. The predicted 507-amino acid SLC2A6 protein contains 12 membrane-spanning helices and all the motifs characteristic of sugar transporters. It shares 44.8% identity with SLC2A8. Northern blot analysis revealed a 2.6-kb transcript expressed exclusively in brain, spleen, and peripheral leukocytes. Transfection of COS-7 cells with SLC2A6 resulted in protein bands of approximately 48 and 100 kD by SDS-PAGE.