Membrane transport protein

Definition

A membrane transport protein is a special kind of transmembrane protein associated with a biological membrane that facilitates the movement of one or more of these across the membrane: ions, small molecules, or macromolecules (such as other proteins). Note that a specific membrane transport protein may facilitate the movement of only a few specific ions across the biological membrane.

Relation with other concepts

Broader concepts

Concept	Meaning	Relationship with the concept of membrane transport protein	Intermediate notions
transmembrane protein	protein attached to both sides of the lipid bilayer of the biological membrane	membrane transport proteins must be transmembrane proteins in order to facilitate transport	|FULL LIST, MORE INFO
integral membrane protein	protein attached permanently to a biological membrane	(via transmembrane protein)	Transmembrane protein|FULL LIST, MORE INFO
membrane protein	protein that interacts with a biological membrane	(via integral membrane protein)	membrane transport protein|membrane protein}}

Narrower concepts

Concept	Meaning	Relationship with the concept of membrane transport protein	Intermediate notions
solute carrier	protein that facilitates transport of each solute it transports in only one direction (inside to outside or outside to inside)	carriers are a particular kind of membrane transport protein	|FULL LIST, MORE INFO
ion channel	protein that facilitates diffusion of ions bidirectionally across the biological membrane	ion channels are a particular kind of membrane transport protein	|FULL LIST, MORE INFO