Transporters Through the Looking Glass: An Insight into the Mechanisms of Ion-Coupled Transport and Methods That Help Reveal Them

Majumder, Puja and Mallela, Aditya Kumar and Penmatsa, Aravind (2018) Transporters Through the Looking Glass: An Insight into the Mechanisms of Ion-Coupled Transport and Methods That Help Reveal Them. In: JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, 98 (3). pp. 283-300.

PDF Jou_Ind_Ins_Sci_98-3_283_2018.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (3MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Cell membranes, despite providing a barrier to protect intracellular constituents, require selective gating for the influx of important metabolites including ions, sugars, amino acids, neurotransmitters and efflux of toxins and metabolic end-products. The machinery involved in carrying out this gating process comprises of integral membrane proteins that use ionic electrochemical gradients or ATP hydrolysis, to drive concentrative uptake or efflux. The mechanism through which ion-coupled transporters function is referred to as alternating-access. In the recent past, discrete modes of alternating-access have been described with the elucidation of new transporter structures and their snapshots in altered conformational states. Despite X-ray structures being the primary sources of mechanistic information, other biophysical methods provide information related to the structural dynamics of these transporters. Methods including EPR and smFRET, have extensively helped validate or clarify ion-coupled transport mechanisms, in a near-native environment. This review seeks to highlight the mechanistic details of ion-coupled transport and delve into the biophysical tools and methods that help in understanding these fascinating molecules.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belong to SPRINGER, 233 SPRING ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013 USA
Keywords:	Secondary active transport; Ion-coupled transport; Alternating-access; Uniport; Symport; Antiport
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Molecular Biophysics Unit
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2018 15:38
Last Modified:	12 Aug 2022 09:28
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/60688

Actions (login required)

View Item