Testis Anion Transporter 1 (TAT1)

SLC26A8 is one member of a family of sulfate/anion transporter genes. Family members are well conserved in their genomic (number and size of exons) and protein (aa length among species) structures yet have markedly different tissue expression patterns. This gene is expressed primarily in spermatocytes. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found. The deduced 970-amino acid protein has a calculated molecular mass of 109 kD. SLC26A8 contains 14 putative transmembrane regions with cytoplasmic N- and C-termini. It also contains several N-glycosylation sites, 4 of which reside in the major predicted external loop. SLC26A8 shares 26% identity with pendrin (SLC26A4), and 28% identity with DRA (SLC26A3).