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New view at C

Nature Medicine volume 8, pages 445–446 (2002)Cite this article

Transporters for vitamin C keep vitamin concentrations optimal in the body. A new mouse knockout of one transporter reveals previously unknown requirements for the vitamin. (pages 514–517)

During long sea voyages in the age of sail, Dutch and British seamen noted that eating fresh fruit and vegetables prevented scurvy, a condition of muscle weakness, swollen and bleeding gums, loss of teeth, bleeding under the skin and impaired wound healing. More than a century later, the disease was ascribed to vitamin C deficiency. The vitamin is now known to mediate a variety of enzymatic reactions, including collagen synthesis, the basis for the defect in scurvy. The vitamin also protects tissues from oxidative damage by scavenging free radicals.

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Figure 1: Mechanisms of vitamin C transport.

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  1. Membrane Biology Program and Renal Division Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Matthias A. Hediger

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  1. Matthias A. Hediger
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Hediger, M. New view at C. Nat Med 8, 445–446 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0502-445

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0502-445

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