Glioma cells survival depends both on fatty acid oxidation and on functional carnitine transport by SLC22A5.

Gliomas are the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, but current treatment for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is insufficient. Even though glucose is the primary energetic substrate of glioma cells, they are capable of using fatty acids to generate energy. Fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in mitochondria requires L-carnitine for the formation of acylcarnitines by carnitine palmitoylotransferase 1 (CPT1) and further transport of acyl carnitine esters to mitochondrial matrix.

SLC22A5 (OCTN2) Carnitine Transporter-Indispensable for Cell Metabolism, a Jekyll and Hyde of Human Cancer.

Oxidation of fatty acids uses l-carnitine to transport acyl moieties to mitochondria in a so-called carnitine shuttle. The process of β-oxidation also takes place in cancer cells. The majority of carnitine comes from the diet and is transported to the cell by ubiquitously expressed organic cation transporter novel family member 2 (OCTN2)/solute carrier family 22 member 5 (SLC22A5).

Trafficking of the amino acid transporter B (SLC6A14) to the plasma membrane involves an exclusive interaction with SEC24C for its exit from the endoplasmic reticulum.

A plasma membrane amino acid transporter B (ATB), encoded by the SLC6A14 gene, is specific for neutral and basic amino acids. It is up-regulated in several types of malignant cancers. Neurotransmitter transporters of the SLC6 family interact with specific SEC24 proteins of the COPII complex along their pathway from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi.

Protein phosphatase PP2A - a novel interacting partner of carnitine transporter OCTN2 (SLC22A5) in rat astrocytes.

l-Carnitine is essential for translocation of fatty acids for their mitochondrial β-oxidation, a process shown in the brain to take place in astrocytes. Organic cation and carnitine plasma membrane transporter OCTN2 (SLC22A5) is present in astrocytes. OCTN2 activity and localization were previously shown to be regulated by protein kinase C (PKC), although no phosphorylation of the transporter was detected.