Identification of a novel cancer therapy target molecule by elucidating the physiological function of the orphan transporter

我们检测到孤儿转运蛋白和肿瘤抑制基因SLC22A18在细胞膜中表达，但不在质膜中表达。我们发现，在稳定表达SLC22A18的细胞中，O-GlcNAc修饰底物UDP-GlcNAc的水平高于模拟细胞。此外，Western印迹分析显示，稳定表达SLC22A18的细胞中O-GlcNAc修饰蛋白的水平增加。我们发现，在某些肿瘤细胞类型中，SLC22A18被敲除后细胞增殖率增加，这表明低水平的SLC22A18与肿瘤形成的加速有关。

We detected the expression of SLC22A18, an orphan transporter and tumor suppressor gene, in organelle membranes, but not within the plasma membrane. We showed that the level of UDP-GlcNAc, an O-GlcNAc modification substrate, is higher in cells stably expressing SLC22A18 than in mock cells. In addition, the levels of O-GlcNAc-modified proteins detected using western blot analysis are increased in cells stably expressing SLC22A18. We found that SLC22A18 knockdown in some tumor cell types increased cell proliferation rates, suggesting that a relationship exists between low SLC22A18 levels and acceleration of tumorigenesis.