Characterization of novel paralogs of glucose transporter (GLUT) 11 in birds

Eilaf Salman Alqureish, Tennessee State University

Abstract

Glucose is the essential source of energy in the body, and cellular glucose uptake and disposal are responsible for energy balance, adipose tissue development and diabetes. A family of glucose transporters called GLUTs facilitate glucose uptake by moving glucose passively across the cell membrane. Similar to mammalian species, previous evidence has shown that chickens express eleven of the GLUT members, GLUT1-12, whereas lack GLUT4By GenBank Database search, it was discovered that the chicken has more members of GLUTs than previously known. Through sequence analysis, we identified 4 distinct members similar to each other and to the human GLUT11, now we call them respectively GLUT11-A, GLUT11-B, GLUT11-C, and GLUT11-D. The mRNA levels of GLUT11 members in different tissues were assayed using RT-qPCR. Results showed that kidney tissue has high expression of GLUT11-A, B, and C respectively, while GLUT11-D was expressed at a higher level in the liver than in the kidney. We also examined mRNA levels of GLUT11 members among other tissue types including heart, pancreas, intestine, muscle, brain, and adipose tissue. We observed that the small intestine expressed a high level of GLUT11-D mRNA, and a low level of GLUT11-C mRNA. Muscle tissue has minimal expression with all GLUT11 types. GLUT11-B and C have the higher expressions of brain tissue. Adipose tissue, heart, small intestine, and pancreas have minimal expression of GLUT11-A and GLUT11-C mRNA, while they have low expression levels of GLUT11-B and GLUT11-D mRNA.

Subject Area

Molecular biology|Animal sciences

Recommended Citation

Eilaf Salman Alqureish, "Characterization of novel paralogs of glucose transporter (GLUT) 11 in birds" (2016). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI10158640.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI10158640

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