Mammalian amino acid transport system is consisted of large variety of transporters, with the reflection of amino acid molecule variety, and is classfied into various transport systems by the transportative substrate selectivity and the Na+ dependence with the reflection of amino acid molecule variety.
The amino acid transporter, cystine/glutamic acid transporter (xCT) for system x-c has been proposed to be responsible for the cystine transport through the plasma membrane. System x-c mediates an amino acid exchange and prefers cystine and glutamate as its substrates.
The transporter designated as xCT requires 4F2 heavy chain (4F2hc:CD98) for its functional expression, and belongs to the family of amino acid transporters which associates with the type II membrane glycoproteins such as 4F2hc. In brain, it has been proposed that system x-c is up-regulated in glial cells upon the oxidative stress and plays an essential roles to protect neurons against oxidative stress.
This antibody has been proved to be useful for immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. Considering the peptide amino acid sequence, this antibody also seems to react with human xCT.