Membrane transport protein

A membrane transport protein is a membrane protein involved in the movement of ions, small molecules, and macromolecules, such as another protein, across a biological membrane. Transport proteins are integral transmembrane proteins; that is they exist permanently within and span the membrane across which they transport substances. The proteins may assist in the movement of substances by facilitated diffusion, active transport, osmosis, or reverse diffusion. The two main types of proteins involved in such transport are broadly categorized as either channels or carriers (a.k.a. transporters, or permeases). Examples of channel/carrier proteins include the GLUT 1 uniporter, sodium channels, and potassium channels. The solute carriers and atypical SLCs[1] are secondary active or facilitative transporters in humans.[2][3] Collectively membrane transporters and channels are known as the transportome.[4] Transportomes govern cellular influx and efflux of not only ions and nutrients but drugs as well.

  1. ^ Perland, Emelie; Bagchi, Sonchita; Klaesson, Axel; Fredriksson, Robert (2017-09-01). "Characteristics of 29 novel atypical solute carriers of major facilitator superfamily type: evolutionary conservation, predicted structure and neuronal co-expression". Open Biology. 7 (9): 170142. doi:10.1098/rsob.170142. ISSN 2046-2441. PMC 5627054. PMID 28878041.
  2. ^ Hediger, Matthias A.; Romero, Michael F.; Peng, Ji-Bin; Rolfs, Andreas; Takanaga, Hitomi; Bruford, Elspeth A. (February 2004). "The ABCs of solute carriers: physiological, pathological and therapeutic implications of human membrane transport proteinsIntroduction". Pflügers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology. 447 (5): 465–468. doi:10.1007/s00424-003-1192-y. ISSN 0031-6768. PMID 14624363. S2CID 1866661.
  3. ^ Perland, Emelie; Fredriksson, Robert (March 2017). "Classification Systems of Secondary Active Transporters". Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 38 (3): 305–315. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2016.11.008. ISSN 1873-3735. PMID 27939446.
  4. ^ Huang, Y; Anderle, P; Bussey, KJ; Barbacioru, C; Shankavaram, U; Dai, Z; Reinhold, WC; Papp, A; Weinstein, JN; Sadée, W (15 June 2004). "Membrane transporters and channels: role of the transportome in cancer chemosensitivity and chemoresistance". Cancer Research. 64 (12): 4294–301. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-03-3884. PMID 15205344. S2CID 2765236.