Members of the SLC45 family remain to be fully characterised. SLC45A1 was initially identified in the rat brain, particularly predominant in the hindbrain, as a proton-associated sugar transport, induced by hypercapnia [3]. The protein is predicted to have 12TM domains, with intracellular termini. The SLC45A2 gene is thought to encode a transporter protein that mediates melanin synthesis. Mutations in SLC45A2 are a cause of oculocutaneous albinism type 4 (e.g. [2]), and polymorphisms in this gene are associated with variations in skin and hair color (e.g. [1]).

* Key recommended reading is highlighted with an asterisk

* Bartölke R, Heinisch JJ, Wieczorek H, Vitavska O. (2014) Proton-associated sucrose transport of mammalian solute carrier family 45: an analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biochem J, 464 (2): 193-201. [PMID:25164149]

* Vitavska O, Wieczorek H. (2013) The SLC45 gene family of putative sugar transporters. Mol Aspects Med, 34 (2-3): 655-60. [PMID:23506898]

1. Graf J, Hodgson R, van Daal A. (2005) Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the MATP gene are associated with normal human pigmentation variation. Hum Mutat, 25 (3): 278-84. [PMID:15714523]

2. Newton JM, Cohen-Barak O, Hagiwara N, Gardner JM, Davisson MT, King RA, Brilliant MH. (2001) Mutations in the human orthologue of the mouse underwhite gene (uw) underlie a new form of oculocutaneous albinism, OCA4. Am J Hum Genet, 69 (5): 981-8. [PMID:11574907]

3. Shimokawa N, Okada J, Haglund K, Dikic I, Koibuchi N, Miura M. (2002) Past-A, a novel proton-associated sugar transporter, regulates glucose homeostasis in the brain. J Neurosci, 22 (21): 9160-5. [PMID:12417639]