Table 1.
Basic structural and functional characteristics of the creatine transporter.
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Protein | Sodium- and chloride-dependent creatine transporter 1 (CT1) |
| Taxonomic ID | 9606 (NCBI) |
| Gene* | Solute carrier family 6 member 8 (SCL6A8), locus Xq28 |
| Organism | Homo sapiens |
| Size | 635 amino acids (70.5 kDa); highly conserved (97%) between species |
| Subcellular location | Plasmalemma; possibly mitochondria |
| Tissue specificity | Skeletal muscle and kidney, brain, heart, colon, testis, prostate, etc. |
| Coupling ratio | 2 Na+: 1 Cl−: 1 creatine |
| Km | 15–77 μM |
| Sequences | 4 Isoforms produced by alternative splicing |
*
Several studies reported the existence of another human creatine transporter gene on chromosome 16p11.2; mRNA transcripts from this gene may only be expressed in the testis.