The superfamily of amino acid transporters includes SLC32, SLC36 and SLC38 families. SLC32 has only one family member, the vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter (VIAAT) or vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT).VGAT is responsible for the uptake of GABA and Glycine in exchange of protons, and their release from nerve terminals.The transporter is organized into ten membrane spanning domains, a cytosolic N-terminus and a luminal C-terminal tail. In many regions in the brain, where it is expressed, it is found constitutively phosphorylated, although the biological significance is currently unknown.nVGAT is expressed on synaptic vesicles of GABAergic and glycynergic neurons. The transporter is also detected in the pituitary gland and in the pancreas.
