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Ion transporter

"Ion pump" redirects here. For pumps that reduce pressure, see Ion pump (physics).

In biology, an ion transporter, also called an ion pump, is a transmembrane protein that moves ions across a plasma membrane against their concentration gradient, in contrast to ion channels, were ions go through passive transport

Energy source

Such ion pumps can use energy from a variety of sources, including ATP or the concentration gradient of another ion (sometimes called an "ion exchanger"). Symporters transport an ions down their concentration gradient to fuel the transport of another type of ion in the same direction, while antiporters also use the concentration gradient in this same manner but transport in the opposite direction. For a more detailed description of one particular kind of ion pump, see Na+/K+-ATPase.

See also

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ion_transporter". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.