title: Amino-acid transporters in T-cell activation and differentiation.
abstract: T-cell-mediated immune responses aim to protect mammals against cancers and infections, and are also involved in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. Cellular uptake and the utilization of nutrients is closely related to the T-cell fate decision and function. Research in this area has yielded surprising findings in the importance of amino-acid transporters for T-cell development, homeostasis, activation, differentiation and memory. In this review, we present current information on amino-acid transporters, such as LAT1 (l-leucine transporter), ASCT2 (l-glutamine transporter) and GAT-1 (γ-aminobutyric acid transporter-1), which are critically important for mediating peripheral naive T-cell homeostasis, activation and differentiation, especially for Th1 and Th17 cells, and even memory T cells. Mechanically, the influence of amino-acid transporters on T-cell fate decision may largely depend on the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling. These discoveries remarkably demonstrate the role of amino-acid transporters in T-cell fate determination, and strongly indicate that manipulation of the amino-acid transporter-mTORC1 axis could ameliorate many inflammatory or autoimmune diseases associated with T-cell-based immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Observation and Experiment Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central China, Ministry of Agriculture; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10008, China.
authors.forename: Wenkai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Observation and Experiment Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central China, Ministry of Agriculture; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Observation and Experiment Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central China, Ministry of Agriculture; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Observation and Experiment Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central China, Ministry of Agriculture; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China.
authors.forename: Bie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, 2471 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2471, USA.
authors.forename: Guoyao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, 2471 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2471, USA.
authors.forename: Fuller W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Bazer
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Forage and Herbivore, College of Animal Science and Technology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Observation and Experiment Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central China, Ministry of Agriculture; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production, Changsha 410125, China.
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems / Q000378:metabolism*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D026905:Amino Acid Transport Systems; D000596:Amino Acids