H+-coupled nutrient, micronutrient and drug transporters in the mammalian small intestine.

ABSTRACT: The H(+)-electrochemical gradient was originally considered as a driving force for solute transport only across cellular membranes of bacteria, plants and yeast. However, in the mammalian small intestine, a H(+)-electrochemical gradient is present at the epithelial brush-border membrane in the form of an acid microclimate. Over recent years, a large number of H(+)-coupled cotransport mechanisms have been identified at the luminal membrane of the mammalian small intestine. These transporters are responsible for the initial stage in absorption of a remarkable variety of essential and non-essential nutrients and micronutrients, including protein digestion products (di/tripeptides and amino acids), vitamins, short-chain fatty acids and divalent metal ions. Proton-coupled cotransporters express

SUBMITTER: Thwaites DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2803310 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature