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Related Concept Videos

The Significance of Membrane Transport01:44

The Significance of Membrane Transport

The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
The Significance of Membrane Transport01:44

The Significance of Membrane Transport

The transport of solutes across the cell membrane is essential for metabolic processes, like maintaining cell size and volume, generating the action potential, exchanging nutrients and gases, etc. Membrane transport can be either passive or active. It can be simple diffusion, facilitated, or mediated transport aided by transport proteins such as transporters and channels.
Transporters facilitate either an active or passive movement of solutes. They can allow a single-molecule transport down its...
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...
Primary Active Transport01:29

Primary Active Transport

In contrast to passive transport, active transport involves a substance being moved through membranes in a direction against its concentration or electrochemical gradient. There are two types of active transport: primary active transport and secondary active transport. Primary active transport utilizes chemical energy from ATP to drive protein pumps embedded in the cell membrane. With energy from ATP, the pumps transport ions against their electrochemical gradients—a direction they would not...
Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport01:19

Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport

Certain large, lipid-insoluble drug molecules that resemble amino acids, peptides, or glucose, require specialized carrier proteins to facilitate their diffusion across cell membranes. This transport can occur through either facilitated diffusion, which does not require energy input, or active transport, which does require energy input.
Facilitated diffusion is a passive process that utilizes human Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters. These transporters bind to the drug, undergo structural...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Dietary Vitamin A Metabolites in Murine Ocular and Non-Ocular Tissues Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography
05:03

Quantitative Analysis of Dietary Vitamin A Metabolites in Murine Ocular and Non-Ocular Tissues Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Published on: December 27, 2024

Structural basis for multivitamin recognition and transport by human SMVT.

Qiuxin Zhen1,2,3, Mingshuai Wang4, Zhe Zhang5,6,7

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Department of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Nature Communications
|June 27, 2026
PubMed
Summary

The human sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT) structure reveals its complete transport cycle. This provides a framework for understanding its multi-substrate transport and related diseases.

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Structural Biology
  • Molecular Transport

Background:

  • The human sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT, SLC5A6) is crucial for cellular uptake of vital cofactors like biotin.
  • SMVT dysfunction is linked to neurological disorders, metabolic issues, and cancer, yet its transport mechanism remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the molecular mechanism of human SMVT's multi-substrate transport.
  • To provide high-resolution structural insights into the complete transport cycle of SMVT.

Main Methods:

  • Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine structures of SMVT in three distinct conformational states.
  • Functional assays to identify key substrate-binding residues and assess disease-associated mutations.

Main Results:

  • Determined cryo-EM structures of SMVT capturing occluded, outward-open, and inward-open states, visualizing the entire transport cycle.
  • Identified a conserved substrate-binding pocket with specific interactions for biotin, pantothenate, and lipoate.
  • Elucidated the roles of key residues in substrate binding and discrimination, and the impact of disease-linked mutations.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides a detailed structural framework for SMVT's polyspecificity and transport mechanism.
  • Findings offer insights into the molecular basis of SMVT-related diseases.
  • This work lays the groundwork for developing targeted therapeutic strategies for SMVT-associated conditions.