Organic Anion Transporter 2 (OAT2)

SLC22A7 is involved in the sodium-independent transport and excretion of organic anions, some of which are potentially toxic. The encoded protein is an integral membrane protein and appears to be localized to the basolateral membrane of the kidney. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described.

The predicted Slc22a7 protein contains 12 transmembrane domains and has transporter-specific motifs. Slc22a7 is preferentially expressed in liver, with lower expression in kidney. Studies on the developing liver indicated that Slc22a7 transcripts are present at a very low level from gestation days 19 through 21, with a 4- to 5-fold increase within 2 weeks after birth. Slc22a7 protein is located in the sinusoidal membranes of hepatocytes.