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SLC2A9 is a newly identified urate transporter influencing serum urate concentration, urate excretion and gout.

TitleSLC2A9 is a newly identified urate transporter influencing serum urate concentration, urate excretion and gout.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2008
AuthorsVitart V, Rudan I, Hayward C, Gray NK, Floyd J, Palmer CN, Knott SA, Kolcic I, Polasek O, Graessler J, Wilson JF, Marinaki A, Riches PL, Shu X, Janicijevic B, Smolej-Narancic N, Gorgoni B, Morgan J, Campbell S, Biloglav Z, Barac-Lauc L, Pericic M, Klaric IM, Zgaga L, Skaric-Juric T, Wild SH, Richardson WA, Hohenstein P, Kimber CH, Tenesa A, Donnelly LA, Fairbanks LD, Aringer M, McKeigue PM, Ralston SH, Morris AD, Rudan P, Hastie ND, Campbell H, Wright AF
JournalNature genetics
Volume40
Issue4
Pagination437-42
Date Published2008 Apr
ISSN1546-1718
KeywordsAdolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Animals, Biological Markers, Biological Transport, Active, Case-Control Studies, Croatia, Female, Fructose, Genetic Linkage, Genome, Human, Genotype, Germany, Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative, Gout, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Molecular Sequence Data, Oocytes, Organic Anion Transporters, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Uric Acid, Xenopus laevis
AbstractUric acid is the end product of purine metabolism in humans and great apes, which have lost hepatic uricase activity, leading to uniquely high serum uric acid concentrations (200-500 microM) compared with other mammals (3-120 microM). About 70% of daily urate disposal occurs via the kidneys, and in 5-25% of the human population, impaired renal excretion leads to hyperuricemia. About 10% of people with hyperuricemia develop gout, an inflammatory arthritis that results from deposition of monosodium urate crystals in the joint. We have identified genetic variants within a transporter gene, SLC2A9, that explain 1.7-5.3% of the variance in serum uric acid concentrations, following a genome-wide association scan in a Croatian population sample. SLC2A9 variants were also associated with low fractional excretion of uric acid and/or gout in UK, Croatian and German population samples. SLC2A9 is a known fructose transporter, and we now show that it has strong uric acid transport activity in Xenopus laevis oocytes.
Alternate JournalNat. Genet.