Flux coupling, not specificity, shapes the transport and phylogeny of SLC6 glycine transporters

ATB [Formula: see text] (SLC6A14) is a member of the amino acid transporter branch of the SLC6 family along with GlyT1 (SLC6A9) and GlyT2 (SLC6A5), two glycine-specific transporters coupled to 2:1 and 3:1 Na [Formula: see text]:Cl [Formula: see text] , respectively. In contrast, ATB [Formula: see text] exhibits broad substrate specificity for all neutral and cationic amino acids, and its ionic coupling remains unsettled. Using the reversal potential slope method, we demonstrate a 3:1:1 Na [Formula: see text]:Cl [Formula: see text]:Gly stoichiometry for ATB [Formula: see text] that is consistent with its 2.1 e/Gly charge coupling. Like GlyT2, ATB [Formula: see text] behaves as a unidirectional transporter with virtually no glycine efflux at negative potentials after uptake, except by heteroexchange as remarkably shown by leucine activation of NMDARs in Xenopus oocytes coexpressing both membrane proteins. Analysis and computational modeling of the charge movement of ATB [Formula: see text] reveal a higher affinity for sodium in the absence of substrate than GlyT2 and a gating mechanism that locks Na [Formula: see text] into the apo-transporter at depolarized potentials. A 3:1 Na [Formula: see text]:Cl [Formula: see text] stoichiometry justifies the concentrative transport properties of ATB [Formula: see text] and explains its trophic role in tumor growth, while rationalizing its phylogenetic proximity to GlyT2 despite their extreme divergence in specificity.