Neutral And Basic Amino Acid Transport Protein (NBAT)

SLC3A1 encodes a type II membrane glycoprotein which is one of the components of the renal amino acid transporter which transports neutral and basic amino acids in the renal tubule and intestinal tract. Mutations and deletions in this gene are associated with cystinuria. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described, but their biological validity has not been determined.

The cDNA induced the high affinity uptake into oocytes of a broad spectrum of amino acids, including cystine and dibasic and neutral amino acids. Unlike most known transporters, D2 was found to be a type II membrane glycoprotein. It had a low but significant degree of similarity to alpha-glucosidases and to the 4F2 cell surface antigen heavy chain.