Membrane transporter/Ion channel

A membrane transport protein is a membrane protein involved in the movement of ions, small molecules, and macromolecules, such as another protein, across a biological membrane. Transport proteins are integral transmembrane protein; that is they exist permanently within and span the membrane across which they transport substances. The proteins may assist in the movement of substances by facilitated diffusion or active transport. The two main types of proteins involved in such transport are broadly categorized as either channels or carriers. The solute carriers and atypical SLCs are secondary active or facilitative transporters in humans. Collectively membrane transporters and channels are transportome. Transportomes govern cellular influx and efflux of not only ions and nutrients but drugs as well. Transport proteins such as channels and transporters play important roles in the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis, and mutations in these transport protein genes have been identified in the pathogenesis of a number of hereditary diseases. In the central nervous system ion channels have been linked to many diseases such, but not limited to, ataxias, paralyses, epilepsies, and deafness indicative of the roles of ion channels in the initiation and coordination of movement, sensory perception, and encoding and processing of information. Furthermore, drug transporters can serve as drug targets or as a mechanism to facilitate drug delivery to cells and tissues.