Background information
Myo-inositol is involved in many important aspects of cellular regulation including membrane structure, signal transduction and osmoregulation. It is taken up into cells by the sodium/myo-inositol cotransporter (SMIT). SMIT activity maintains intracellular concentrations of myo-inositol; it is upregulated in response to hypertonic stress. The human SMIT protein is encoded by the SLC5A3 gene, which maps to chromosome 21q22.12. It is expressed in many human tissues, such as brain, kidney and placenta. Specifically, SMIT is abundantly expressed throughout the whole brain and spinal cord in fetal rat, but is downregulated in adult rat brain with the exception of the choroid plexus, where SMIT expression remains high. In kidney, SMIT localizes to the baso-lateral membranes of the thick ascending limb of Henle (TAL) and the inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD). Impaired SMIT activity is implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes and Down syndrome.
