Solute Carrier Family 16, Member 12 (SLC16A12)

Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) typically have 12 transmembrane domains, intracellular N and C termini, and a large intracellular loop between transmembrane domains 6 and 7. By searching genomic and EST databases for signature MCT sequences, Halestrap and Meredith (2004) identified SLC16A12, which they called MCT12.Kloeckener-Gruissem et al. (2008) determined that the SLC16A12 gene encodes a 536-amino acid protein containing 12 transmembrane domains with both termini located intracellularly.The authors hypothesized that SLC16A12 is important for lens and kidney homeostasis, and proposed that mutations in a solute carrier such as SLC16A12 could lead to the age-related form of cataract.