General principles of secondary active transporter function.

ABSTRACT: Transport of ions and small molecules across the cell membrane against electrochemical gradients is catalyzed by integral membrane proteins that use a source of free energy to drive the energetically uphill flux of the transported substrate. Secondary active transporters couple the spontaneous influx of a "driving" ion such as Na⁺ or H⁺ to the flux of the substrate. The thermodynamics of such cyclical non-equilibrium systems are well understood, and recent work has focused on the molecular mechanism of secondary active transport. The fact that these transporters change their conformation between an inward-facing and outward-facing conformation in a cyclical fashion, called the alternating access model, is broadly recognized as the molecular framework in which to descr

SUBMITTER: Beckstein O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8984959 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature