GLUT

Glucose is the primary energy source for life on earth. It also serves as an important precursor for biomolecule synthesis, and plays an important role in cell signaling. GLUTs are ubiquitously distributed and catalyze facilitative diffusion of glucose down its concentration gradient. GLUTs are encoded by the SLC2 genes. Fourteen members have been identified in human, which are classified into three classes. GLUT1 is one of the first membrane transporters to be cloned, GLUT2 is the major glucose transporter in hepatocytes and intestine and exhibits several distinctive characteristics compared to the other three GLUTs, GLUT3 is mainly expressed in neurons, thereby also referred to as the “neuronal glucose transporter.”GLUT4 is highly expressed in adipose tissues and skeletal muscles.

References

1.Dong Deng,et al. Protein Sci. 2016 Mar; 25(3): 546–558.