Expression of mammalian renal transporters in Xenopus laevis oocytes

Abstract We have injected mRNA from rabbit renal cortex into Xenopus oocytes and demonstrated the expression of renal carriers for Na + -independent transport of l -phenylalanine and l -lysine and Na + -dependent transport of l -alanine and succinate. Maximal expression of renal amino acid transporters occurred 6–8 days following mRNA injection. The proteins responsible for transport of these four substrates were translated from mRNAs which are between 1.5 and 3.0 kb. This information serves as a starting point for expression cloning of these transport proteins.