biology

SLC38A12

SLC38A12 is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SLC38A12 rather than just read about it. In short: Solute carrier family 38 member 12 (SLC38A12) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC38A12 gene (previously TMEM104). Not much has been reported about the function of this protein, but it is predicted to be located in the cell membrane.

Key takeaways

SLC38A12 belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SLC38A12 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SLC38A12 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Solute carrier family 38 member 12 (SLC38A12) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC38A12 gene (previously TMEM104). Not much has been reported about the function of this protein, but it is predicted to be located in the cell membrane.

Gene

Location TMEM104 is located on human chromosome 17 at the locus 17q25.1. TMEM104 is located between the genes NAT9 and GRIN2C.

Transcripts There are 7 main transcription variants: isoform 1, isoform 2, variant X1 - X5. TMEM104 is predicted to have a promoter region 150 base pairs upstream of the start of transcription. The promoter region of Homo sapien TMEM104 compared to other organisms is very unconserved. It was hard to find anything outside of Mammalia species and most were found under Primates.

Tissue expression In most human tissues, TMEM104 has a modest expression level (25–50th percentile), relative to all human proteins, according to RNA-seq data.

Subcelluar expression The protein has been located primarily in the plasma membrane and less so found in nucleus.

Immunochemistry Data Thermofisher claims that it exhibits significant nuclear and cytoplasmic positivity in glandular cells. With the aid of a TMEM104 polyclonal antibody, the samples were probed.

Protein

TMEM104 variant 1 protein is 496 amino acids in length. TMEM104 is a secreted protein that is overexpressed in Adrenal. TMEM104 is a phenylalanine enriched and glutamine poor protein.

Characteristics TMEM104 has an isoelectric point of 6.8 and a molecular weight of 55.7 kdaltons. It is predicted to have between nine and eleven transmembrane domains, making it a transmembrane protein.

Post Translation Modifications The post-translational modifications N-glycosylation, sulfonation, and phosphorylation are among those predicted for TMEM104.

Tertiary structure TMEM104 has a tertiary structure with alpha helices and beta sheets.

Interaction TMEM104 has been shown to interact with CASKIN2, TMEM94, TOMM6, SYNGR3, SYTL5, B3GNT8, NTRK3, C15orf39, and PPSIG.

Homology

Ortholog TMEM104 has no paralogs. TMEM protein is found mostly in Eukaryotes. The orthologs in the following table were discovered through BLAST searches. Although by no means exhaustive, this list demonstrates the enormous variety of organisms that include TMEM104 orthologs.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SLC38A12

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SLC38A12 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SLC38A12 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SLC38A12 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SLC38A12

In research: SLC38A12 appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SLC38A12 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SLC38A12 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Genes on human chromosome 17, Uncharacterized proteins, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SLC38A12 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SLC38A12 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SLC38A12 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SLC38A12 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SLC38A12 in simple terms?

Why does SLC38A12 matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SLC38A12?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SLC38A12.