In this study, we aimed at analyzing the human homologues of the murine cationic amino acid transporters mCAT-1, mCAT-2A, and mCAT-2B. cDNAs encoding hCAT-1 had been previously reported by two independent groups [Albritton, L.M., et al. (1993) Genomics 12, 430; Yoshimoto, T., et al. (1991) Virology 185, 10]. We isolated cDNAs encoding hCAT-2A and hCAT-2B from a human liver cDNA library and from cDNA derived from the human hepatoma cell line HepG2, respectively. Analyses of the deduced amino acid sequences of both carriers demonstrated 90.9% identity with the respective murine proteins. In their functional domains (42 amino acids), both hCAT-2A and hCAT-2B differ only by one residue from the respective mouse proteins. Thus, CAT-2 proteins demonstrate a higher interspecies conservation than CAT-1 proteins that are overall 86.5% identical between mouse and human and differ by seven residues in the functional domain. The high degree of sequence conservation was reflected by the functional similarity of the human carriers with their mouse homologues. When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, hCAT-1 and hCAT-2B demonstrated transport properties consistent with y+. Unlike the mouse CAT-1 and CAT-2B, whose transport properties could hardly be distinguished, the transport properties of the human CAT-1 and CAT-2B isoforms showed clear differences: hCAT-1 had a 3-fold higher substrate affinity and was more sensitive to trans-stimulation than hCAT-2B. In contrast to the y+ carriers, hCAT-2A exhibited a 10-30-fold lower substrate affinity, a greater maximal velocity, and was much less sensitive to trans-stimulation at physiological substrate concentrations.