Cationic Amino Acid Transporter 3 (CAT3)

CAT3 contains 14 membrane-spanning domains, an N-glycosylation site, and several myristoylation and phosphorylation sites. CAT3 shares 83.4% and 82% identity with rat and mouse Cat3, respectively. There is relatively high interspecies divergence in the functional domain, and several phosphorylation sites are not conserved between the human and murine sequences. Highest expression of CAT3 in thymus, with lower expression in brain, uterus, testis, and mammary gland. Within brain, expression was highest in thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala. CAT3 expression was detected in fetal thymus, but not in other fetal tissues tested. Fluorescence-labeled CAT3 was expressed as a plasma membrane protein in Xenopus oocytes and in glioblastoma cells.