Xiaoyun Bai and Reinhart Reithmeier
A Perspective article entitled “A Call for Systematic Research on Solute Carriers” was published today (July 30th) in Cell with Reinhart Reithmeier and his post-doc Xiaoyun Bai as co-authors.
This human family of over 400 genes plays an essential role in ion and pH homeostasis, nutrient uptake and waste removal. Mutations in these genes are linked to a plethora of human diseases and SLCs are potential drug targets. Yet, SLCs are one of the most understudied human gene families. The article calls for a systematic attack on SLCs to elucidate their structures, functions and involvement in metabolic networks and human disease. This understanding will allow translational research to place SLCs in the sights of the pharmaceutical industry.
