An electrostatic model of a proton/ion or an ion/ion coport or counterport

Abstract

Abstract An ionic coport is a trans-membrane protein or group of proteins that uses the drop across the cell membrane of the electrochemical potential of one type of ion to power the transfer of a second type of ion across that membrane in the same direction but against its trans-membrane electrochemical potential gradient. Any such simultaneous transfer can only occur spontaneously if the Gibbs free energy of the combined process falls, as described in Appendix 3. For definiteness we consider a coport that uses the transfer of the cation X + across the membrane, resulting in a change − ΔµX in its electrochemical potential, to power the transfer of another type of cation Y + across the membrane in the same direction when the change in its electrochemical potential is Δ+ µY .

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1093/oso/9780198506805.003.0015

Journal

Electricity and Magnetism in Biological Systems

Year

2001