The Carrier Mechanism
1979; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0070-2161(08)60257-9
ISSN1875-6492
Autores Tópico(s)Electrochemical sensors and biosensors
ResumoThis chapter reviews that the term "carrier" has been given three different meanings. First, a carrier has been defined as any component of the membrane that binds the permeant during the transport process. This definition is the most vague and least useful of the three. By contrast, in most theoretical treatments a carrier has been defined as a molecule or complex of molecules that is free to move from one side of the membrane to the other, ferrying bound permeants across as passengers. Finally, intermediate between these extremes and corresponding to the usual practice in kinetic studies is the definition of a carrier as any transport system, no matter what its physical nature, which operates in such a way that the system's fluxes can be described by equations based on extensions of the original physical model. The chapter aims to discuss carriers such as trinactin and valinomycin and lipid-soluble ions such as tetraphenylboron. These are small molecules of known structure. It also focuses on the kinetic models and compares them with various membranes.
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