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A cotransporter is an integral membrane protein
Integral membrane protein

An Integral Membrane Protein is a protein molecule that is permanently attached to the biological membrane. Such proteins can be separated from the biological membranes only using detergents, nonpolar solvents, or sometimes Denaturation agents....
 that is involved in secondary active transport
Active transport

Active transport is the mediated process of moving particles across a biological membrane against a Concentration_gradient#In_biology . If the process uses chemical energy, such as from adenosine triphosphate , it is termed primary active transport....
. It works by binding to two molecule
Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electric charge neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds....
s or ions at a time and using the gradient
Gradient

In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field which points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....
 of one solute's concentration
Concentration

In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given chemical substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent....
 to force the other molecule or ion against its gradient.

It is sometimes equated with symporter
Symporter

A cotransporter is an integral membrane protein that is involved in secondary active transport. It works by binding to two molecules or ions at a time and using the gradient of one solute's concentration to force the other molecule or ion against its gradient....
, but the term "cotransporter" refers both to symporters and antiporter
Antiporter

An antiporter is an integral membrane protein which is involved in secondary active transport of two or more different molecules or ions across a phospholipid membrane such as the plasma membrane in opposite directions....
s (though not uniporter
Uniporter

A uniporter is an integral membrane protein that is involved in facilitated diffusion. They can be either a channel or a carrier protein....
s).

The word "symporter" is a conjunction of the Greek syn- or sym- for "together, with" (cf.






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A cotransporter is an integral membrane protein
Integral membrane protein

An Integral Membrane Protein is a protein molecule that is permanently attached to the biological membrane. Such proteins can be separated from the biological membranes only using detergents, nonpolar solvents, or sometimes Denaturation agents....
 that is involved in secondary active transport
Active transport

Active transport is the mediated process of moving particles across a biological membrane against a Concentration_gradient#In_biology . If the process uses chemical energy, such as from adenosine triphosphate , it is termed primary active transport....
. It works by binding to two molecule
Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electric charge neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong chemical bonds....
s or ions at a time and using the gradient
Gradient

In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field which points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....
 of one solute's concentration
Concentration

In chemistry, concentration is the measure of how much of a given chemical substance there is mixed with another substance. This can apply to any sort of chemical mixture, but most frequently the concept is limited to homogeneous solutions, where it refers to the amount of solute in the solvent....
 to force the other molecule or ion against its gradient.

It is sometimes equated with symporter
Symporter

A cotransporter is an integral membrane protein that is involved in secondary active transport. It works by binding to two molecules or ions at a time and using the gradient of one solute's concentration to force the other molecule or ion against its gradient....
, but the term "cotransporter" refers both to symporters and antiporter
Antiporter

An antiporter is an integral membrane protein which is involved in secondary active transport of two or more different molecules or ions across a phospholipid membrane such as the plasma membrane in opposite directions....
s (though not uniporter
Uniporter

A uniporter is an integral membrane protein that is involved in facilitated diffusion. They can be either a channel or a carrier protein....
s).

The word "symporter" is a conjunction of the Greek syn- or sym- for "together, with" (cf. symphony, synonym) and -porter. Symporter is also sometimes misspelled simporter because of the simultaneous transport of molecules (and the phonetic resemblance to symporter).

In order for any protein
Protein

Proteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid Residue ....
 to do work
Mechanical work

In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI of joules....
, it must harness energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
 from some source. In particular, symporters do not require the splitting of ATP
Adenosine triphosphate

This article is about the chemical used by cells as an energy carrier. For other uses, see ATP .Adenosine-5'-triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleotide, and plays an important role in cell biology as a coenzyme that is the "molecule unit of currency" of intracellular energy transfer....
 because they derive the necessary energy for the movement of one molecule from the movement of the another. Overall, the movement of the two molecules still acts to increase entropy
Entropy

In many branches of science, entropy is a measure of the disorder of a system. The concept of entropy is particularly notable as it is applied across physics, information theory and mathematics....
.

Proton-sucrose cotransporters are common in plant cell membranes. An ATP molecule in the cell phosphorylates a carrier protein, causing a conformational change that shuttles a proton across the membrane. The proton binds with sucrose in the extracellular fluid, then undergoes passive transport down its concentration gradient (ie. up the concentration gradient of sucrose).

See also

  • Na-K-2Cl symporter
    Na-K-2Cl symporter

    The Na-K-Cl cotransporter is a protein that aides in the active transport of sodium, potassium, and chloride into and out of cell . There are two varieties, or isoforms, of this membrane transport protein, called NKCC1 and NKCC2....
  • Sodium/phosphate cotransporter
    Sodium/phosphate cotransporter

    The sodium/phosphate cotransporter is a protein found in the proximal tubule of the nephron. It is responsible for reabsorbing phosphate that has been filtered out at the glomerulus....
  • Sodium-glucose transport proteins
    Sodium-glucose transport proteins

    Sodium-dependent glucose cotransporters are a family of glucose transporter found in the intestinal mucosa of the small intestine and the proximal tubule of the nephron ....


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