title: Coupling of proton and substrate translocation in the transport cycle of mitochondrial carriers.
abstract: Members of the mitochondrial carrier family are involved in transporting keto acids, amino acids, nucleotides, inorganic ions and co-factors across the mitochondrial inner membrane. The transporters are thought to share the same structural fold, which consists of six trans-membrane alpha-helices and three matrix helices, arranged with threefold pseudo-symmetry. During the transport cycle two salt bridge networks on either side of the central cavity might regulate access to a single substrate binding site in an alternating fashion. In the case of proton-substrate symporters the substrate binding sites contain also negatively charged residues that are proposed to be involved in proton transport.
authors.affiliation: The Medical Research Council, Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0XY, United Kingdom. ek@mrc-mbu.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Edmund R S
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Kunji
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Robinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001692:Biological Transport; D006801:Humans; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D011522:Protons