Mechanisms regulating tissue-specific polarity of monocarboxylate transporters and their chaperone CD147 in kidney and retinal epithelia.

ABSTRACT: Proton-coupled monocarboxylate transporters (MCT) MCT1, MCT3, and MCT4 form heterodimeric complexes with the cell surface glycoprotein CD147 and exhibit tissue-specific polarized distributions that are essential for maintaining lactate and pH homeostasis. In the parenchymal epithelia of kidney, thyroid, and liver, MCT/CD147 heterocomplexes are localized in the basolateral membrane where they transport lactate out of or into the cell depending on metabolic conditions. A unique distribution of lactate transporters is found in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which regulates lactate levels of the outer retina. In RPE, MCT1/CD147 is polarized to the apical membrane and MCT3/CD147 to the basolateral membrane. The mechanisms responsible for tissue-specific polarized distribution of MCTs are

SUBMITTER: Deora AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1283422 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature