Molecular Mechanism of Electrogenic Sodium/Proton Antiport

Sodium/proton antiporters are integral membrane proteins that are vital for cell homeostasis. In humans, they maintain cellular pH and their dysfunction is linked to a variety of complex diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular pathophysiology, and autism. Na+/H+ antiporters are secondary active transporters that utilize the electrochemical gradient of one ionic species to drive the energetically uphill transmembrane transport of the other species. They operate by the alternating access mechanism whereby the protein cycles between an outward facing and inward facing conformation to switch the exposure of substrate binding sites between the extracellular and the intracellular environment.