antiporter

(noun)

A cell protein that acts within an antiport to transport different molecules or ions across the membrane in opposite directions

Related Terms

Examples of antiporter in the following topics:

  • Electrochemical Gradient

    • There are three types of these proteins or transporters: uniporters, symporters, and antiporters .
    • An antiporter also carries two different ions or molecules, but in different directions.
    • Both of these are antiporter carrier proteins.
    • An antiporter also carries two different molecules or ions, but in different directions.

  • Secondary Active Transport

    • Both antiporters and symporters are used in secondary active transport.
    • Co-transporters can be classified as symporters and antiporters depending on whether the substances move in the same or opposite directions across the cell membrane.

  • Sodium Pumps as an Alternative to Proton Pumps

    • Na+/K+-ATPase (Sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase, also known as Na+/K+ pump, sodium-potassium pump, or sodium pump) is an antiporter enzyme (EC 3.6.3.9) (an electrogenic transmembrane ATPase) located in the plasma membrane of all animal cells.
    • While certain Na+-dependent functions, like Na+-dependent uptake of melibiose, proline, and glutamate, have been observed in many bacteria, the ion gradients that served as energy sources for these transports have been generated by primary H+ pumps and converted to Na+ gradients by Na+/H+ antiporters.

  • Short-Term Chemical Control

    • Dephosphorylation by myosin light-chain phosphatase and induction of calcium symporters and antiporters that pump calcium ions out of the intracellular compartment both contribute to smooth muscle cell relaxation and therefore vasodilation.