Sodium Coupled Neutral Amino Acid Transporter 1 (SNAT1)

Amino acid transporters play essential roles in the uptake of nutrients, production of energy, chemical metabolism, detoxification, and neurotransmitter cycling. SLC38A1 is an important transporter of glutamine, an intermediate in the detoxification of ammonia and the production of urea. Glutamine serves as a precursor for the synaptic transmitter, glutamate.The deduced 487-amino acid protein is predicted to have a cytoplasmic N terminus followed by 11 putative transmembrane domains and an extracellular C terminus. ATA1 has 2 N-glycosylation sites in the putative extracellular loop between transmembrane domains 5 and 6, and several protein kinase C phosphorylation sites. ATA1 shares 93% identity with rat Ata1 and 52% identity with human ATA2 (SLC38A2).