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Secondary Active Transport-Animation(3D) 

Secondary active transport

Secondary active transport

In secondary active transport, also known as coupled transport or co-transport, energy is used to transport molecules across a membrane; however, in contrast to primary active transport, there is no direct coupling of ATP; instead it relies upon the electrochemical potential difference created by pumping ions in/out of the cell.Permitting one ion or molecule to move down an electrochemical gradient, but possibly against the concentration gradient where it is more concentrated to that where it is less concentrated increases entropy and can serve as a source of energy for metabolism (e.g. in ATP synthase).

In August 1960, in Prague, Robert K. Crane presented for the first time his discovery of the sodium-glucose cotransport as the mechanism for intestinal glucose absorption.Crane's discovery of cotransport was the first ever proposal of flux coupling in biology. 

Cotransporters can be classified as symporters and antiporters depending on whether the substances move in the same or opposite directions.

Antiport

Function of Symports and Antiports

In an antiport two species of ion or other solutes are pumped in opposite directions across a membrane. One of these species is allowed to flow from high to low concentration which yields the entropic energy to drive the transport of the other solute from a low concentration region to a high one. An example is the sodium-calcium exchanger or antiporter, which allows three sodium ions into the cell to transport one calcium out.

Many cells also possess a calcium ATPase, which can operate at lower intracellular concentrations of calcium and sets the normal or resting concentration of this important second messenger. But the ATPase exports calcium ions more slowly: only 30 per second versus 2000 per second by the exchanger. The exchanger comes into service when the calcium concentration rises steeply or "spikes" and enables rapid recovery. This shows that a single type of ion can be transported by several enzymes, which need not be active all the time (constitutively), but may exist to meet specific, intermittent needs.

Symport

Symport uses the downhill movement of one solute species from high to low concentration to move another molecule uphill from low concentration to high concentration (against its electrochemical gradient). Both molecules are transported in the same direction.

An example is the glucose symporter SGLT1, which co-transports one glucose (or galactose) molecule into the cell for every two sodium ions it imports into the cell. This symporter is located in the small intestines, trachea, heart, brain, testis, and prostate. It is also located in the S3 segment of the proximal tubule in each nephron in the kidneys.Its mechanism is exploited in glucose rehydration therapy and defects in SGLT1 prevent effective reabsorption of glucose, causing familial renal glucosuria.