The Sodium Bicarbonate Cotransporter: Structure, Function, and Regulation

The role of the Na+-coupled HCO3− transporter (NBC) family is indispensable in acid-base homeostasis. Almost all tissues express a member of the NBC family. NBC has been studied extensively in the kidney and plays a role in proximal tubule HCO3− reabsorption. Although the exact function of this transporter family on other tissues is not very clear, the ubiquitous expression of NBC family suggests a role in cell pH regulation. Altered NBC activity caused by mutations of the gene responsible for NBC protein expression results in pathophysiologic conditions. Mutations of NBC resulting in important clinical disorders have been reported extensively on one member of the NBC family, the kidney NBC (NBC1). These mutations have led to several structural studies to understand the mechanism of the abnormal NBC1 activity.