Aspartate Glutamate Carrier Isoform 1, Mitochondrial (Agc1)

The SLC25A12 gene encodes aralar, a protein that functions in the transport of aspartate from mitochondria to cytosol in exchange for glutamate. Aralar also plays a role in the transfer of cytosolic reducing equivalents into mitochondria as a member of the malate-aspartate NADH shuttle.

The N-terminal portion of the predicted 678-amino acid aralar protein contains 3 canonical EF-hand calcium-binding domains and 2 imperfect EF-hand domains. The authors demonstrated that this half of the protein bound calcium in vitro. The C-terminal half of aralar shares 28 to 29% identity with proteins of the mitochondrial solute carrier family, including oxoglutarate/malate carrier, ADP/ATP translocase-2, UCP1, and tricarboxylate carrier.