Transporter Membrane Preparations

Background of Transporter

Channels and carriers are two types of transporter proteins found in biological membranes. Channels are small holes that open in response to a chemical or electrophysiological stimulation, allowing a solute to flow along an electrochemical gradient. To translocate a substrate against a concentration gradient, active carrier proteins use an energy-producing mechanism. Many prior biochemical and biological research have been explained by transporter structures, which have provided fresh insight on their functional mechanisms. These structures show that transporter proteins are extremely flexible and that significant movements occur throughout the substrate translocation process, which may help to distinguish active carriers from channel proteins.

Application of Transporter Membrane Preparations

Drug development has been transformed by the introduction of membrane ligand binding assays and high-throughput screening. Ligand binding assays allow us to see how a ligand or a new synthetic molecule interacts with a target protein and assess affinity and kinetics of those interactions, while HTS helps to automate research and shorten development time.