Humans and other mammals have two types of urea transport proteins, UT-A and UT-B.
The UT-A proteins are important for renal urea handling and are produced by alternative splicing of the SLC14A2 gene.
[2] The structure of a urea transport family protein from Desulfovibrio vulgaris was determined by x-ray crystallography.
[4] Their inhibition results in increased diuresis due to urea induced osmosis in the collecting ducts of the kidney.
[6] UT-B is widely expressed and has been studied in erythrocytes,[7] kidney, intestine,[8] and at the blood–brain barrier.