Glucose transporter 3 (or GLUT3) is a protein in humans that is encoded by the gene SLC2A3. It was the third glucose transporter to be discovered. GLUT3 facilitates the movement of glucose across the plasma membrane. It is located on chromosome 12 in humans.
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Structure and Function
The GLUT3 molecule is important because it facilitates the movement of glucose molecules across the plasma membrane. It has 481 amino acids and its assembly composition is monomeric (or, that it is one distinct polypeptide with an and ). Attached on the sides is the is a surfactant for membrane protein manipulation, allowing GLUT3 protein to easily enter a cell.
There are two chains that compose the GLUT3 protein. These chains are named the and the .
Disease
Deficiency of GLUT3 protein has associated with the severity of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and expression of AD symptoms. [1] Although there is no proven causal relation between GLUT3 deficiency and AD, the relationship between the two suggests that the two are correlated.
Relevance
The GLUT3 protein has been found to be the only glucose transport protein that works in bovine (cow) and humans lenses. Glucose transport into eye lenses is important because the metabolism of glucose is necessary to create energy to maintain the transparency of lenses [2]
Structural highlights
