SLC22A3

Solute carrier family 22 member 3 (SLC22A3) also known as the organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3) or extraneuronal monoamine transporter (EMT) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC22A3 gene.

Polyspecific organic cation transporters in the liver, kidney, intestine, and other organs are critical for elimination of many endogenous small organic cations as well as a wide array of drugs and environmental toxins. This gene is one of three similar cation transporter genes located in a cluster on chromosome 6. The encoded protein contains twelve putative transmembrane domains and is a plasma integral membrane protein.

Distribution

OCT3 is widely distributed in brain tissue. It is not yet completely clear whether its location is primarily neuronal or glial. Areas of the brain in which it has been reported include: hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex, visual cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, raphe nucleus, subiculum, superior and inferior colliculi, and islands of Calleja.