Molecular cloning of a novel member of the GLUT family of transporters, SLC2A10 (GLUT10), localized on chromosome 20q13.1: A candidate gene for NIDDMsusceptibility

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a multifactoral disease with both environmental and genetics causes. Genome-wide screening procedur es have identified several susceptibility loci for NIDDM within the human g enome. We describe the cloning of a putative sugar transporter that has bee n localized to human chromosome 20q12-q13.1, one of the genomic loci associ ated with NIDDM. Because of the strong resemblance of this novel protein to members of the mammalian facilitative glucose transporter family (GLUT), w e refer to the protein as GLUT10 (HGMW-approved gene symbol SLC2A10). GLUT1 0 contains 541 amino acids with several glucose transporter sequence motifs and amino acids essential for glucose transport function. In addition, sec ondary structure analysis of GLUT10 predicts 12 putative transmembrane doma ins, a hallmark structure of the GLUT family. The tissue distribution of GL UT10 was determined by Northern analysis, which revealed highest levels of expression in the liver and pancreas. From these data, we believe that the chromosomal localization, tissue distribution, and predicted function make GLUT10 an excellent candidate for a susceptibility gene involved in NIDDM. (C) 2001 Academic Press.