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Updated: Nov 15, 2025

Expression, Solubilization, and Purification of Eukaryotic Borate Transporters
Published on: March 7, 2019
Prokaryotic Solute/Sodium Symporters: Versatile Functions and Mechanisms of a Transporter Family
Tania Henriquez1, Larissa Wirtz1, Dan Su1
1Microbiology, Department Biology 1, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Abstract:
The solute/sodium symporter family (SSS family; TC 2.A.21; SLC5) consists of integral membrane proteins that use an existing sodium gradient to drive the uphill transport of various solutes, such as sugars, amino acids, vitamins, or ions across the membrane. This large family has representatives in all three kingdoms of life. The human sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) and the sodium/glucose transporter (SGLT1) are involved in diseases such as iodide transport defect or glucose-galactose malabsorption. Moreover, the bacterial sodium/proline symporter PutP and the sodium/sialic acid symporter SiaT play important roles in bacteria-host interactions. This review focuses on the physiological significance and structural and functional features of prokaryotic members of the SSS family. Special emphasis will be given to the roles and properties of proteins containing an SSS family domain fused to domains typically found in bacterial sensor kinases.
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