| Primary Identifier | IPR004836 | Type | Family |
| Short Name | Na_Ca_Ex |
| description | Na+/Ca2+exchange proteins are involved in maintaining Ca2+homeostasis ina wide variety of cell types. They are found in both the plasma membraneand intracellular organellar membranes, where they exchange Na+for Ca2+inan electrogenic manner. When located in the plasma membrane, they generallyutilise the transmembrane (TM) Na+concentration gradient in order toextrude Ca2+from cells. Three mammalian isoforms have been cloned to date(NCX1-3), which consist of 920-970 amino acid residues that are predictedto possess 11 or 12 TM domains. Interestingly, they possess a short motif(~30 residues) that is similar to the Na+/K+-ATPase, although its functionis unknown [, ].NCX1 has been found to be predominantly expressed in the heart, where itplays an important role in excitation-contraction coupling, but it is alsoabundant in a variety of other tissues []. NCX2 and NCX3 transcripts havebeen detected in the brain and skeletal muscle [, ]. Homologous Na+/Ca2+exchange proteins have also been found in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster andLoligo opalescens (California market squid). |
