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Updated: Jun 21, 2026
10:23
Glutamine Flux Imaging Using Genetically Encoded Sensors
Published on: July 31, 2014
Functioning and evolutionary significance of nutrient transceptors.
Johan M Thevelein1, Karin Voordeckers
1Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Institute of Botany and Microbiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven-Heverlee, Flanders, Belgium. johan.thevelein@mmbio.vib-kuleuven.be
Molecular Biology and Evolution
|August 5, 2009
Summary
Nutrient transceptors, proteins with both transport and receptor functions, bridge the evolution from nutrient transporters to classical receptors. This discovery reveals their intermediate role in cellular signaling pathways.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Evolutionary Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Nutrient transceptors are proteins exhibiting both nutrient transporter and receptor functionalities.
- Receptors for chemical signals may have evolved from nutrient transporters.
- Examples include transporters with signaling roles, receptors with transporter-like structures, and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) binding nutrients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary relationship between nutrient transporters, transceptors, and classical receptors.
- To elucidate the functional and structural similarities that support an evolutionary link.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of protein sequences and structures.
- Bioinformatic analysis to detect homology between distantly related proteins.
- Comparative analysis of functional domains and ligand-binding properties.
Main Results:
- Transceptor signaling involves ligand-induced conformational changes, akin to classical receptors.
- The glucose transceptor Rgt2 in yeast is evolutionarily homologous to the glucose-sensing GPCR Gpr1.
- Nutrient transceptors occupy an intermediate evolutionary position between transporters and receptors.
Conclusions:
- Nutrient transceptors represent a crucial evolutionary link between nutrient transporters and classical receptors.
- Their dual function highlights a transitional stage in the evolution of cellular signaling mechanisms.
- Further research into transceptors can illuminate the origins of sensory systems in biology.
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