Sodium- and chloride-dependent neutral and basic amino acid transporter ATB(0,+) (SLC6A14) (SLC6A14)

Sodium- and chloride-dependent neutral and basic amino acid transporter ATB(0,+) (SLC6A14) is a member of the solute carrier family 6 that functions as a high-affinity, concentrative transporter for all essential amino acids, as well as glutamine and arginine (UniProt Q9UNP9). It is uniquely characterized by its ability to transport a broad spectrum of amino acids using the energy from the transmembrane gradients of sodium and chloride. While its expression is minimal in most normal tissues, it is markedly upregulated in several types of cancer, including colorectal, breast, and pancreatic carcinomas, to support the high metabolic and proliferative demands of tumor cells (Karunakaran et al., 2011). This upregulation makes it a highly attractive therapeutic target for amino acid starvation strategies (Babu et al., 2015). Pharmacological blockade of SLC6A14 has been shown to effectively inhibit tumor growth in preclinical models by depriving cells of critical nutrients, thereby inducing apoptosis (Sikder et al., 2020). Additionally, SLC6A14 plays a role in the pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis, where it acts as a genetic modifier of disease severity (Ahmadi et al., 2018). Current drug development efforts focus on identifying potent small-molecule inhibitors and exploring the transporter's potential for the targeted delivery of amino acid-conjugated prodrugs.

Other names

ATB0+SLC6A14Amino acid transporter ATB(0,+)Solute carrier family 6 member 14ATB(0,+)

Inhibition of the transporter prevents the uptake of essential amino acids and glutamine, inducing the amino acid starvation response and subsequent apoptosis in cancer cells (Babu et al., 2015).