RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Electrophysiological Characterization of Human and Mouse Sodium-Dependent Citrate Transporters (NaCT/SLC13A5) Reveal Species Differences with Respect to Substrate Sensitivity and Cation Dependence
JF Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JO J Pharmacol Exp Ther
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 247
OP 254
DO 10.1124/jpet.115.226902
VO 355
IS 2
A1 Ruud Zwart
A1 Polina M. Peeva
A1 James X. Rong
A1 Emanuele Sher
YR 2015
UL http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/355/2/247.abstract
AB The citric acid cycle intermediate citrate plays a crucial role in metabolic processes such as fatty acid synthesis, glucose metabolism, and β-oxidation. Citrate is imported from the circulation across the plasma membrane into liver cells mainly by the sodium-dependent citrate transporter (NaCT; SLC13A5). Deletion of NaCT from mice led to metabolic changes similar to caloric restriction; therefore, NaCT has been proposed as an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this study, we expressed mouse and human NaCT into Xenopus oocytes and examined some basic functional properties of those transporters. Interestingly, striking differences were found between mouse and human NaCT with respect to their sensitivities to citric acid cycle intermediates as substrates for these transporters. Mouse NaCT had at least 20- to 800-fold higher affinity for these intermediates than human NaCT. Mouse NaCT is fully active at physiologic plasma levels of citrate, but its human counterpart is not. Replacement of extracellular sodium by other monovalent cations revealed that human NaCT was markedly less dependent on extracellular sodium than mouse NaCT. The low sensitivity of human NaCT for citrate raises questions about the translatability of this target from the mouse to the human situation and raises doubts about the validity of this transporter as a therapeutic target for the treatment of metabolic diseases in humans.