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Updated: Mar 5, 2026

Author Spotlight: Expression and Purification of Human Solute Carrier Transporters Using Codon-Optimized Genes
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Author Spotlight: Expression and Purification of Human Solute Carrier Transporters Using Codon-Optimized Genes

Published on: September 29, 2023

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Harnessing Solute Carrier Transporters for Precision Oncology

Michael D Nyquist1, Bhagwat Prasad2, Elahe A Mostaghel3,4

  • 1Division of Human Biology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. mnyquist@fredhutch.org.

Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 29, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters regulate drug uptake in cancer. Targeting cancer-specific SLC transporter changes offers new precision medicine strategies for improved therapy response.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters are crucial for cellular transport of metabolites, nutrients, ions, and drugs.
  • Many cancer therapeutics, including chemotherapeutics and targeted therapies, rely on SLC transporters for cellular uptake.
  • SLC transporters exhibit coordinated expression in normal tissues but show significant alterations in cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the regulation of drug transporters in cancer and their impact on therapy response.
  • To explore novel strategies for targeting therapies based on tumor-specific SLC transporter expression.
  • To identify therapeutic vulnerabilities arising from oncogenic changes in SLC transporter expression.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of SLC transporter function in cancer.
  • Analysis of SLC transporter expression patterns in normal versus tumor tissues.
  • Discussion of therapeutic targeting strategies based on transporter aberrations.

Main Results:

  • Altered SLC transporter expression in cancer fuels tumor growth by increasing uptake of essential metabolites.
  • Increased SLC transporter expression in tumors can enhance intracellular concentrations of substrate drugs.
  • Aberrant SLC transporter expression presents a therapeutic opportunity for targeted drug delivery.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding SLC transporter regulation in cancer is key to optimizing therapeutic efficacy.
  • Exploiting tumor-specific SLC transporter expression enables precision medicine approaches.
  • Targeting drug uptake mechanisms via SLC transporters represents a novel frontier in cancer therapy.
Keywords:
SLC35F2SurvivinYM155chemotherapydrug transportprecision medicineprecision oncologysolute carrier transporterstargeted therapy

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