Summary of data on transcellular transport proteins involved in medical practice

Abstract

The authors of the presented article address the problem of transcellular transport proteins used in medical practice. Passive transport-facilitated diffusion is mediated by permeating membrane proteins with specific characteristics. In the process of transmembrane transport, permeating molecules bind to an active site of the transporter on one side of the membrane. In this way a permeant-transporter complex is formed that crosses the bilayer, dissociating themselves on the other side of the membrane, with the purpose to release the molecule transported. Facilitated diffusion occurs depending on concentration transported molecule according to kinetics similar to the Michaelis-Menten relationship for enzymatic reactions with a single substrate. This implies that the rate of transport reaches a maximum value when it becomes independent of substrate concentration.