Monocarboxylate transporter 4

Monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) also known as solute carrier family 16 member 3 is a is_associated_with::protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC16A3 is_associated_with::gene.

Northern and is_associated_with::western blotting and EST database analyses showed MCT4 to be widely expressed and especially so in glycolytic tissues such as white skeletal muscle fibers, is_associated_with::astrocytes, white blood cells, is_associated_with::chondrocytes, and some mammalian cell lines. Because of this, it has been proposed that the properties of MCT4 might be especially appropriate for export of is_associated_with::lactic acid derived from is_associated_with::glycolysis. MCT4 exhibits a lower affinity for most substrates and inhibitors than is_associated_with::MCT1, with Km and Ki values some 5–10-fold higher. The high Km for is_associated_with::pyruvate may be especially significant as this avoids loss of pyruvate from the cell which, were it to occur, would prevent removal of the reduced form of is_associated_with::nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) produced in glycolysis by reduction of pyruvate to lactate.