L-type amino acid transporter (LAT) family are transporters responsible for the uptake of neutral amino acids into cells. The LATs family contain four different members LAT1 (SLC7A5), LAT2 (SLC7A8), LAT3 (SLC43A1) and LAT4 (SLC43A2). LATs transporters are known to carried out their function in an Na⁺ and pH independent manner¹. In recent years, LATs family shown to participate in the uptake of thyroid hormones (THs) and their derivatives².

LAT2 (SLC7A8) is a transmembrane protein first discovered back in 1999 using sequence similarity to LAT1. According to the predicted membrane topology, LAT2 consists of 12 transmembrane domains (TMDs) and N- and C- termini located in the cytosol. LAT2 associate with the 4F2hc (4F2 antigen heavy chain; CD98 heavy chain) glycoprotein to form a dimer that act as a neutral amino acid transporter³.

LAT2 is expressed in various tissues, including the intestinal wall, blood–brain barrier, and kidney. Mutations in LAT2 protein cause age-related hearing loss in mice and humans⁵. In addition, deletion LAT2 in mice led to increased incidence of cataract^4,5.