The SLC26 gene family encodes multifunctional transport proteins in numerous tissues and
organs. Some paralogs function as anion exchangers, others as anion channels, and one,
prestin (SLC26A5), represents a membrane-bound motor protein in outer hair cells of the
inner ear. At present, little is known about the molecular basis of this functional diversity. We
studied the subunit stoichiometry of one bacterial, one teleost, and two mammalian SLC26
isoforms expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes or in mammalian cells using blue native …