Cancer poses serious health risks to humans. The solute carrier (SLC) family is crucial for cancer development regulation. As a member of this family, SLC7A7 forms a heterodimer with SLC3A2 to transport cationic and neutral amino acids (AA) across the membrane, thereby maintaining cellular AA homeostasis. A recent study resolved the crystal structure of SLC7A7 and identified the key residues involved in substrate binding of SLC7A7, providing important experimental evidence for the future development of small-molecule inhibitors of SLC7A7. In addition, multiple studies have revealed the expression regulation mechanism of SLC7A7 in human, mouse, and porcine cells, providing a basis for studying the regulatory mechanism of SLC7A7 expression in cancer cells. SLC7A7 is dysregulated in multiple cancers, including bladder cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma. SLC7A7 is involved in cancer proliferation and metastasis, with a notable impact on shaping the tumor microenvironment (TME) across multiple cancer types, making it a valuable target for further investigation. In this review, we discuss recent advances in understanding the structure, expression, and regulatory mechanisms of SLC7A7, focusing on its role in cancer development and the current research limitations. Furthermore, this review emphasizes the role of SLC7A7 in promoting cancer immune escape by influencing innate and adaptive immune cells in the TME and discusses its potential mechanisms of immune cell regulation.
Zhang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.