Expression of mammalian renal transporters in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

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.