Associate Professor David Christie

Associate Professor

Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology

Phone: 09-3737599 x88009
Rm 402C
Email: d.christie@auckland.ac.nz

Membrane Transport Proteins

Membrane transport proteins are molecular machines the move their substrates across biological membranes. Often ion-gradients and the electrical potential across the membrane is used to provide energy to transport the substrate from a low concentration in the extracellular medium to a high concentration in the cytoplasm.

Solute carrier family 6 (SLC6) encodes sodium- and chloride-dependent membrane transporters for neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, GABA and glycine), creatine, amino acids and some osmolytes, including taurine and betaine.

Our current research is focused on the creatine transporter.

  • Structure and function of the creatine transporter. Biochemical and molecular biology techniques are being used to investigate the mechanism of creatine transport. The aim is to identify amino acid residues important for substrate specificity and transport
  • Importance of the creatine transporter for brain function. Creatine, through the creatine kinase reaction, maintains cellular ATP levels. Mutations in the creatine transporter gene (SLC6A8) result in the absence of creatine in the brain and a novel form of X-linked mental retardation. Also, dietary creatine is neuroprotective in many animal models of neurological diseases. We are studying how creatine uptake is regulated in neurons and whether alteration in creatine transporter expression is associated with neurological diseases.

Research Staff

  • Joanna Dodd

    • Research Funding

    • The Neurological Foundation of New Zealand
    • The Auckland Medical Research Foundation

Recent Publications

D L Christie. (2007). Functional insights into the creatine transporter in "Creatine and Creatine Kinase in Health and Disease". eds Wyss, M and Salomons, GS, Springer (2007, in press).

M Shojaiefard, D L Christie. and F Lang. (2006). Stimulation of the creatine transporter SLC6A8 by the protein kinase mTOR. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 341, 945-949..

M L Acosta, M Kalloniatis and D L Christie. (2005). Creatine transporter localization in developing and adult retina: importance of creatine to retinal function. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 289, C1015-1023..

S Cleary, F M Brouwers, G Eisenhofer, K Pacak, D L Christie, J Lipski, A R McNeil and J K Phillips. (2005). Expression of the noradrenaline transporter and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase in normal human adrenal gland and phaeochromocytoma. Cell Tissue Res. 322, 443-453.

J R Dodd and D L Christie. (2005). Substituted Cysteine Accessibility of the Third Transmembrane Domain of the Creatine Transporter: Defining a transport pathway. J Biol Chem 280, 32649-32654..

M Shojaiefard, D L Christie and F Lang. (2005). Stimulation of the creatine transporter SLC6A8 by the protein kinases SGK1 and SGK3. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 334, 742-746..

M West, D Park, J R Dodd, J Kistler and D L Christie. (2005). Purification and characterization of the creatine transporter expressed at high levels in HEK293 cells. Protein Expr Purif 41, 393-401..

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