Final Flashcards
(109 cards)
Types of membane transport operation.
- uniport: moves a single substance at a time. Example is GLUT1 which is a passive uniporter.
- Symport: transports two different substances in the same direction across the membrane
- Antiport: Transports two different substances in opposite directions across the membrane.
Three methods of membrane transport
diffusion, passive transport, active transport
Diffusion in membrane transport
small non-polar substances.
Flux (diffusion rate) depends on the solubility of the molecule in lipid and the concentration gradient across the membrane.
Passive Transport and Facilitated diffusion
Facilitated diffusion: channels form a hole in the membrane through which molecules can pass down their concentration gradient. Can be selective. Can be saturated. .
Can have ungated or gated/regulated.
Ungated Channels
Passive Transport. always open. Selective or non-selective. Examples are porins and aquaporins.
Porins
Ungated passive transport.
also called beta-barrel Channels. Located on outer membranes of gram-negative bacteria and mitochondria..

Aquaporins.
Ungated Passive Transport.
lots of alpha-helices.
Only allow passage of water, it even excludes the flow of ions including H3O+.
There are two Asn residues at the center of the pore.

Gated or Regulated Channels in Passive Transport
highly selective, regulated by membrane potential, ligand binding, mechanical stress or other factors..
Examples include Voltage gated sodium and potassium channels, voltage dependent calcium channels, and two ligand gated GABAaR and nAchR
Voltage Gated Sodium and Potassium Channels.
Gated Passive Transport.
Resting state: neurons maintain a negative membrane potential with an excess of extracellular sodium ions and intracellular potassium ions.
In an action potential sodium channels open letting sodium into the cell causing depolarization.
Potassium channels open after sodium channels close and they let potassium out of the cell which restores the resting membrane potential.
Electrochemical Gradient
the combination of the concentration gradient and the membrane potential that influences the diffusion of ions across membranes.
Tetrodotoxin
found in certain pufferfish and it inhibits voltage-gated sodium channels and causes paralysis

Voltage Dependent Calcium Channels (VDCCs)
Gated Passive Transport.
found in muscle cells and neurons.
Activated by depolarization of the membrane and allow Calcium into the cell. They are open for much longer than voltage-gated Na channels and cause muscle contraction and neuron excitation.
Calcium Channel Blockers
amlodipine. used to treat hypertension. Inhibit VDCCs in the heart muscle, decreasing cardiac contractility. Also inhibit VDCCs in the arterial smooth muscle causing vasodilation.

Name the two ligand gated channels in passive transport.
GABAaR and nAChR
GABAa Receptor (GABAaR)
Ligand gated channel in passive transport.
Cl- channel found in CNS. Activation allows Cl- into the cell and causes membrane hyperpolarization causing neural inhibition.
Benzodiazepines and barbiturates enhance GABAaR activity.

Nicotinic Achetocholine Receptor (NAChR)
gated channel (passive transport) found at neuromuscular junctions.
Binding opens channel allowing Na+ to enter the cell and K+ to exit. Result is local depolarization initiating muscle contraction.
Acetylcholinesterase rapidly degrades ACh in the synaptic cleft.

Non-depolarizing nAChR inhibitors
bind to and competitively inhibit ACh binding.
Examples are d-tubocurarine (poison arrow dart) and muscle relaxants like atracurium.

Depolarizing nAChR inhibitors
bind to nAChR and open the channel resulting in membrane depolarization causing muscle contraction first then paralysis.
Example is succinylcholine which is a short-acting skeletal muscle relaxant used in IV with anesthesia.

The two types of active transport
Primary involves ATP consumption
and Secondary is coupled to an existing electrochemical gradient.
Na/K-ATPase
Primary Active Transport.
maintains the concentration gradients of sodium and potassium.
In each cycle it hydrolyzes 1 ATP, pumps 3 Na+ ions out of the cell and pumps 2 K+ ions into the cell.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp)
Primary Active Transport
Efflux transporter in the gut, liver, kidney and blood-brain barrier.
Potential source for drug-drug interactions. inhibitors include quinidine which increases exposure to substrate drugs like digoxin.

Na-glucose transporter
Secondary Active Transport.
located in renal epithelial cells. Symport so glucose import is powered by the sodium gradient set up by the Na/K-ATPase.

Na/Ca exchanger (NCX)
Secondary Active Transport
antiport in cardiac cells that is powered by the sodium gradient. It exchanges 3 Na+ per Ca+ exported.
Cardiac Glycosides
natural products that increase the intensity of heart muscle contraction and are used to treat congestive heart failure.
Example is digoxin. Digoxin has a narrow therapuetic index.
Inhibit Na/K-ATPase decreasing the Na+ gradient which in turn inhibits NCX. This increases intracellular Ca++ causing an increase in contractility of the cardiac muscle and increasing intensity of cardiac contraction.












































