Sodium iodide symporter (NIS) (NIS)

The Sodium iodide symporter (NIS), also known as Solute carrier family 5 member 5 (SLC5A5), is an integral membrane glycoprotein that mediates the active transport of iodide into cells using the electrochemical gradient of sodium (UniProt, 2024). While endogenously expressed in the thyroid for hormone synthesis, NIS is utilized as a reporter and therapeutic transgene in oncolytic virotherapy platforms like VSV-IFNβ-NIS, also known as Voyager-V1 (Vyriad, 2024). In these systems, the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is engineered to express human NIS in infected tumor cells, allowing for real-time, non-invasive imaging of viral distribution using isotopes such as Technetium-99m or Iodine-123 (Packer et al., 2021, Molecular Therapy). Furthermore, the concentrated expression of NIS enables the targeted uptake of therapeutic radionuclides like Iodine-131, which induces cell death in both infected cells and neighboring uninfected cells via the bystander effect (Cook et al., 2017, Gene Therapy). This approach is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for multiple myeloma and various solid tumors to monitor viral kinetics and enhance anti-tumor efficacy (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02923466).

Other names

Solute carrier family 5 member 5SLC5A5Na+/I- symporterSodium-iodide symporter

Mediates the active transport of iodide into cells using the electrochemical gradient of sodium, enabling the concentration of radionuclides for diagnostic imaging and targeted radiotherapy (UniProt, 2024; Packer et al., 2021).