Potassium Chloride Cotransporters 3 (KCC3)

Solute carrier family 12 member 6 is a member of the K-Cl cotransporter (KCC) family. K-Cl cotransporters are integral membrane proteins that lower intracellular chloride concentrations below the electrochemical equilibrium potential.The predicted 1,099-amino acid SLC12A6 protein contains 12 membrane-spanning segments and 5 N-glycosylation sites. SLC12A6 shares 77% amino acid identity with the ubiquitously expressed KCC1 (SLC12A4) and 73% identity with the brain-restricted KCC2. Northern blot analysis detected strong expression of 9-, 7.5-, and 4.5-kb SLC12A6 transcripts in brain, heart, skeletal muscle, and kidney. Western blot analysis showed expression of a 150-kD SLC12A6 protein that was reduced to 120 kD by glycosidase treatment. Functional analyses confirmed that SLC12A6 is a KCC.