Sugar transporter SWEET1, also known as RAG1-activating protein 1 and stromal cell protein (SCP), is a membrane protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC50A1 gene.[5] SWEET1 is the sole transporter from the SLC50 (SWEET) gene family present in the genomes of most animal species, with the exception of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which has seven.[6]
SWEET1 is a broadly-expressed glucose transporter.[6] As the SWEET family has been identified relatively recently, the full range of its functions in animals is not yet clear.[7] However, the bovine SLC50A1 homologue is associated with lactose concentration in milk,[8] and the CiRGA homologue in the sea squirtCiona intestinalis is essential for tissue differentiation during embryogenesis, especially the development of the notochord.[9]
SWEET genes are common in plant genomes, with around twenty paralogues [6] functioning as both sucrose and hexose transporters, and are also associated with pathogen susceptibility.[6][10]
^Hamada M, Wada S, Kobayashi K, Satoh N (2005). "Ci-Rga, a gene encoding an MtN3/saliva family transmembrane protein, is essential for tissue differentiation during embryogenesis of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis". Differentiation. 73 (7): 364–376. doi:10.1111/j.1432-0436.2005.00037.x. PMID16219040.
Barnhill JC, Stokes AJ, Koblan-Huberson M, Shimoda LM, Muraguchi A, Adra CN, Turner H (Mar 2004). "RGA protein associates with a TRPV ion channel during biosynthesis and trafficking". Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 91 (4): 808–20. doi:10.1002/jcb.10775. PMID14991772. S2CID44629547.
Tagoh H, Kishi H, Muraguchi A (Apr 1996). "Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel stromal cell-derived cDNA encoding a protein that facilitates gene activation of recombination activating gene (RAG)-1 in human lymphoid progenitors". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 221 (3): 744–9. doi:10.1006/bbrc.1996.0667. PMID8630032.
