Table 1.
Glucose transporters
| Transporter protein | Distribution in human tissue | Known function | Associated disease |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium glucose co-transporters (SGLT) | |||
| SGLT1 | Intestine, trachea, kidney, heart, brain, testis, prostate | Active co-transport of sodium, glucose, and galactose across intestinal brush border and S3 segment of kidney proximal tubule | SGLT1 mutations associated with congenital glucose–galactose malabsorption |
| SGLT2 | Kidney, brain, liver, thyroid, muscle, heart | Active co-transport of sodium and glucose in S1 segment of kidney proximal tubule | SGLT2 mutations associated with familial renal glucosuria |
| SGLT3 | Intestine, testis, uterus, lung, brain, thyroid | Not a glucose transporter in humans—probable glucosensor | Unknown |
| SGLT4 | Intestine, kidney, liver, brain, lung, trachea, uterus, pancreas | Unknown—glucose, mannose substrates | Unknown |
| SGLT5 | Kidney cortex | Unknown—glucose, galactose substrates | Unknown |
| SGLT6 | Brain, kidney, spinal cord, small intestine | Unknown—d-chiro-inositol substrate | Unknown |
| Facilitated glucose transporters (GLUT) | |||
| GLUT1 | Ubiquitous | Glucose transport | GLUT1 deficiency contributes to De Vivo disease (low cerebrospinal fluid glucose levels) |
| GLUT2 | Pancreas, liver, kidney, small intestine | Glucose transport (low affinity) and fructose | GLUT2 mutations associated with Fanconi–Bickel syndrome |
| GLUT3 | Neurons, lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages, platelets | Glucose transport in neurons (high affinity) | Unknown |
| GLUT4 | Skeletal muscle, heart, adipose tissue | Glucose transport (high affinity) | GLUT4 deficiency may cause insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus, as well as cardiac hypertrophy |
| GLUT5 | Intestine (kidney, brain, fat, testis, muscle—lower levels) | Fructose transport (and very low-affinity glucose transport) | Unknown |
| GLUT6 | Spleen, leukocytes, brain | Glucose transport | Unknown |
| GLUT7 | Small and large intestine | Unknown | Unknown |
| GLUT8 | Testis, blastocyst, brain, muscle, adipocytes | Glucose transport | Unknown |
| GLUT9 | Liver, kidney, intestine (chondrocytes—low levels) | Urate transporter | Inactivating mutations of GLUT9 cause hypouricemia |
| GLUT10 | Liver, pancreas | Glucose transport | GLUT10 mutations cause arterial tortuosity syndrome |
| GLUT11 | Heart, skeletal muscle | Fructose and glucose transport | Unknown |
| GLUT12 | Heart, skeletal muscle, small intestine, prostate, adipose tissue, mammary gland | (Probable glucose homeostasis) | Unknown |
| GLUT13 (HMIT) | Brain | Myoinositol transport | Unknown |
| GLUT14 | Testis | Probable glucose transport | Unknown |