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Facilitated Diffusion01:16

Facilitated Diffusion

The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
Membrane Transporters01:31

Membrane Transporters

Transporters are essential membrane transport proteins with functions related to cell nutrition, homeostasis, communication, etc. Approximately 7% of all genes in the human genome code for transporters or transporter-related proteins.
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
Carrier-Mediated Transport01:06

Carrier-Mediated Transport

Carrier-mediated transport is a pivotal process in drug absorption, particularly for lipid-insoluble drugs, and encompasses facilitated diffusion and active transport. Facilitated diffusion allows drugs to move along their concentration gradient without energy expenditure, while active transport utilizes ATP to drive drug movement against this gradient.
Active transport involves two types of membrane-spanning transporters: uptake and efflux. Uptake transporters are expressed in the small...
Membrane Asymmetry Regulating Transporters01:19

Membrane Asymmetry Regulating Transporters

Enzymes like flippase, floppase, and scramblase transfer phospholipids from one layer to another in the membrane, thereby affecting membrane asymmetry.
Flippase
Eukaryotic flippases are type-IV P-type ATPases or P4-ATPases belonging to P-type ATPase family proteins that are membrane-bound pumps involved in the ATP-mediated transport of ions and molecules across the membrane. Flippases flip specific phospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of a membrane. All P4-ATPases have one...
Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In  facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a membrane via...
Facilitated Transport01:19

Facilitated Transport

The chemical and physical properties of plasma membranes cause them to be selectively permeable. Since plasma membranes have both hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, substances need to be able to transverse both regions. The hydrophobic area of membranes repels substances such as charged ions. Therefore, such substances need special membrane proteins to cross a membrane successfully. In facilitated transport, also known as facilitated diffusion, molecules and ions travel across a membrane via...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Characterization of Membrane Transporters by Heterologous Expression in E. coli and Production of Membrane Vesicles
13:16

Characterization of Membrane Transporters by Heterologous Expression in E. coli and Production of Membrane Vesicles

Published on: December 31, 2019

Facilitative plasma membrane transporters function during ER transit.

Hitomi Takanaga1, Wolf B Frommer

  • 1Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology, Stanford, California, USA.

FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
|April 1, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Glucose transporters (GLUTs) facilitate glucose transport across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. This protein-mediated uptake, crucial for ER function, explains ER membrane permeability to small molecules.

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Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters
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Last Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Characterization of Membrane Transporters by Heterologous Expression in E. coli and Production of Membrane Vesicles
13:16

Characterization of Membrane Transporters by Heterologous Expression in E. coli and Production of Membrane Vesicles

Published on: December 31, 2019

Functional Characterization of Na+/H+ Exchangers of Intracellular Compartments Using Proton-killing Selection to Express Them at the Plasma Membrane
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Functional Characterization of Na+/H+ Exchangers of Intracellular Compartments Using Proton-killing Selection to Express Them at the Plasma Membrane

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11:51

Application of Electrophysiology Measurement to Study the Activity of Electro-Neutral Transporters

Published on: February 3, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Transport
  • Endoplasmic Reticulum Function

Background:

  • Biochemical studies suggested high endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane permeability for small molecules.
  • Proteomics revealed a limited number of specialized ER transporters.
  • The role of transporters in ER passage remained unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the functionality of glucose transporters (GLUTs, SGLTs) during ER transit.
  • To determine if plasma membrane-destined transporters are active during ER passage.
  • To elucidate the protein-mediated mechanisms underlying ER permeability.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed glucose transport activity in HepG2 and HEK293T cells.
  • Measured ER uptake capacity in relation to plasma membrane transport.
  • Studied the effect of ectopic expression of GLUT isoforms and SGLT1 in HEK293T cells.

Main Results:

  • HepG2 cells exhibited low-affinity ER transport activity, indicating protein mediation.
  • HEK293T cells showed reduced plasma membrane and ER glucose transport.
  • Ectopic expression of GLUT1, -2, -4, or -9 induced specific ER transport activity.
  • SGLT1 mediated efficient plasma membrane transport but not ER uptake, likely due to insufficient sodium gradient.

Conclusions:

  • GLUTs are sufficient to mediate glucose transport during ER transit en route to the plasma membrane.
  • Trace amounts of GLUTs contribute to ER solute import, explaining ER permeability.
  • Transporter expression, residence time, and coupling mechanisms are key determinants of ER permeability.