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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
Published on: October 17, 2013
Transmembrane ion transport by calixarenes and their derivatives
Khayzuran S J Iqbal1, Peter J Cragg
1School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton, Cockcroft Building, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, UK BN2 4GJ.
Abstract:
Regulation of transmembrane ion transport is a vital aspect of bioinorganic chemistry. To understand how this highly selective process occurs, how it can become impaired and how impairment may be treated, model compounds are useful tools. Several systems are presently being explored but one of the most widely applicable combines a rigid macrocycle, capable of size-based ion recognition, with membrane-spanning substituents that allow the target ions to traverse a phospholipid bilayer. The calixarene class of macrocycles is ideally suited to this task. This article sets out the biological background to transmembrane ion transport, the methods available to study the phenomenon, examples of model compounds, and proposes areas of further study.
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