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First published online May 15, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 1672-1683 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.029454
Review Article |
Molecular physiology and genetics of Na+-independent SLC4 anion exchangers
Renal Division and Molecular and Vascular Medicine Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
e-mail: salper{at}bidmc.harvard.edu
Accepted 12 March 2009
Plasmalemmal Cl–/HCO3– exchangers are encoded by the SLC4 and SLC26 gene superfamilies, and function to regulate intracellular pH, [Cl–] and cell volume. The Cl–/HCO3– exchangers of polarized epithelial cells also contribute to transepithelial secretion and reabsorption of acid–base equivalents and Cl–. This review focuses on Na+-independent electroneutral Cl–/HCO3– exchangers of the SLC4 family. Human SLC4A1/AE1 mutations cause the familial erythroid disorders of spherocytic anemia, stomatocytic anemia and ovalocytosis. A largely discrete set of AE1 mutations causes familial distal renal tubular acidosis. The Slc4a2/Ae2–/– mouse dies before weaning with achlorhydria and osteopetrosis. A hypomorphic Ae2–/– mouse survives to exhibit male infertility with defective spermatogenesis and a syndrome resembling primary biliary cirrhosis. A human SLC4A3/AE3 polymorphism is associated with seizure disorder, and the Ae3–/– mouse has increased seizure susceptibility. The transport mechanism of mammalian SLC4/AE polypeptides is that of electroneutral Cl–/anion exchange, but trout erythroid Ae1 also mediates Cl– conductance. Erythroid Ae1 may mediate the DIDS-sensitive Cl– conductance of mammalian erythrocytes, and, with a single missense mutation, can mediate electrogenic SO42–/Cl– exchange. AE1 trafficking in polarized cells is regulated by phosphorylation and by interaction with other proteins. AE2 exhibits isoform-specific patterns of acute inhibition by acidic intracellular pH and independently by acidic extracellular pH. In contrast, AE2 is activated by hypertonicity and, in a pH-independent manner, by ammonium and by hypertonicity. A growing body of structure–function and interaction data, together with emerging information about physiological function and structure, is advancing our understanding of SLC4 anion exchangers.
Key words: SLC4, chloride/bicarbonate exchange, renal tubular acidosis, spherocytosis, stomatocytosis
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