Identification and characterization of a NA⁺-independent neutral amino acid transporter that associates with the 4F2 heavy chain and exhibits substrate selectivity for small neutral D- and L-amino acids

A cDNA was isolated from the mouse brain that encodes a novel Na⁺- independent neutral amino acid transporter. The encoded protein, designated as Asc-1 (asc-type amino acid transporter 1), was found to be structurally related to recently identified mammalian amino acid transporters for the transport systems L, y⁺L, x(C)/^-, and b^0,+, which are linked, via a disulfide bond, to the type II membrane glycoproteins, 4F2 heavy chain (4F2hc), or rBAT (related to b^0,+ amino acid transporter). Asc-1 required 4F2hc for its functional expression. In Western blot analysis in the nonreducing condition, a 118-kDa band, which seems to correspond to the heterodimeric complex of Asc-1 and 4F2hc, was detected in the mouse brain. The band shifted to 33 kDa in the reducing condition, confirming that Asc-1 and 4F2hc are linked via a disulfide bond. Asc-1-mediated transport was not dependent on the presence of Na⁺ or Cl^-. Although Asc-1 showed a high sequence homology (66% identity at the amino acid level) to the Na⁺- independent broad scope neutral amino acid transporter LAT2 (Segawa, H., Fukasawa, Y., Miyamoto, K., Takeda, E., Endou, H., and Kanai, Y. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 19745-19751), Asc-1 also exhibited distinctive substrate selectivity and transport properties. Asc-1 preferred small neutral amino acids such as Gly, L-Ala, L-Ser, L-Thr, and L-Cys, and α-aminoisobutyric acid as substrates. Asc-1 also transported D-isomers of the small neutral amino acids, in particular D-Ser, a putative endogenous modulator of N- methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptors, with high affinity. Asc-1 operated preferentially, although not exclusively, in an exchange mode. Asc-1 mRNA was detected in the brain, lung, small intestine, and placenta. The functional properties of Asc-1 seem to be consistent with those of a transporter subserving the Na⁺-independent small neutral amino acid transport system asc.