RESUMO
GLUT2 is a facilitative glucose transporter located in the plasma membrane of theliver, pancreatic, intestinal, kidney cells as well as in the portal and the hypothalamusareas. Due to its low affinity and high capacity, GLUT2 transports dietary sugars,glucose, fructose and galactose in a large range of physiological concentrations, displayinglarge bidirectional fluxes in and out the cells. This review focuses on the rolesof GLUT2. The first identified function of GLUT2 is its capacity to fuel metabolismand to provide metabolites stimulating the transcription of glucose sensitive genes.Recently, two other functions of GLUT2 are uncovered. First, the insertion ofGLUT2 into the apical membrane of enterocytes induces the acute regulation ofintestinal sugar absorption after a meal. Second, the GLUT2 protein itself initiates aprotein signalling pathway triggering a glucose signal from the plasma membrane tothe transcription machinery
