Cloning and Expression of Bovine Sodium/Glucose Cotransporters*

The Na+-dependent glucose cotransporters (SGLT) are a family of glucose transporters that mediate an active, sodium-linked transport process against an electrochemical gradient. The SGLT are known to play important roles in absorption of dietary d-glucose and d-galactose from the intestinal lumen and in the reabsorption of d-glucose from the glomerular filtrate in kidney. To study the role and regulation of SGLT in tissues of lactating cows, we cloned and sequenced the full-length cDNA of bovine SGLT1 and SGLT5. Open reading frame analysis predicted that bovine SGLT1 is composed of 664 amino acids with a molecular weight of approximately 73 kDa, and SGLT5 is composed of 597 amino acids with a molecular weight of approximately 65 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of bovine SGLT1 is 48% identical and 66% conserved relative to that of bSGLT5. The amino acid sequence of bovine SGLT1 is 97, 88, 87, 86, 85, and 84% identical to sheep, mouse, rat, horse, human, and rabbit SGLT1, respectively. In contrast, the amino acid sequence of bSGLT5 is relatively divergent among species, being 85, 64, and 48% identical to rabbit, human, and rat SGLT5, respectively. Bovine SGLT retain the characteristic structural features of SGLT1 proteins described in other species, including membrane-spanning helices and glucose transporter motifs. The major in vitro transcription and translation product of bovine SGLT1 cDNA migrated at an apparent molecular weight of 52 kDa. In the presence of canine microsomal membranes, the translation product increased to 53 kDa, suggesting glycosylation. The SGLT1 mRNA was most abundant in bovine intestine, at intermediate levels in bovine kidney, and at lower levels in bovine mammary gland, liver, and lung. No SGLT1 mRNA was detected in bovine spleen, skeletal muscle, or testes. Expression of SGLT5 mRNA was found predominantly in bovine kidney, only at very low levels in bovine testes, skeletal muscle, and spleen, and was essentially undetectable in bovine mammary gland, liver, lung, and small intestine. Abundance of SGLT1 mRNA in bovine mammary gland increased more than 4-fold during late pregnancy and early lactation. The sequence and expression data reported in this paper lay the groundwork for future studies aimed at unraveling the functional roles of SGLT in supporting milk production and maintaining glucose homeostasis during lactation.