Dissection of Transporter Function: From Genetics to Structure

Transporters are transmembrane proteins mediating the selective uptake or efflux of solutes, metabolites, drugs, or ions across cellular membranes. Despite their immense biological importance in cell nutrition, communication, signaling, and homeostasis, their study remains technically difficult mostly due to their lipid-embedded nature. The study of eukaryotic transporters presents additional complexity due to multiple subcellular control mechanisms that operate to ensure proper membrane traffic, membrane localization, and turnover. Model fungi present unique genetic tools to study eukaryotic transporter function. This review highlights how fungal transporter genetics combined with new methodologies for assaying their cellular expression and function as well as recent structural approaches have led to the functional dissection of selected transporter paradigms in Aspergillus nidulans.