Coupled biochemical systems and membrane transport

In Section 3.2 we introduced the basic processes of advection, diffusion, and drift, by which material is transported in biophysical systems. In this chapter we focus on a specialized class of transport transport across biological membranes. Transport of a substance across a membrane may be driven by passive permeation, as described by Equation (3.60), or it may be facilitated by a carrier protein or transporter that is embedded in the membrane. Thus transport of substances across membranes mediated by transporters is termed carrier-mediated transport. The most basic way to think about carrier proteins or transporters is as enzymes that catalyze reactions that involve transport. 

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Coupled biochemical systems and membrane transport 7.3 Electrophysiology modeling... 

The ultimate example studied in this chapter is the mitochondrial respiratory system and oxidative ATP synthesis. This system, in which biochemical network function is tightly coupled with membrane transport, is essential to the function of nearly all eukaryotic cell types. As an example of a critically important system and an analysis that makes use of a wide range of concepts from electrophysiology to detailed network thermodynamics, this model represents a milestone in our study of living biochemical systems. To continue to build our ability to realistically simulate living systems, the following chapter covers the treatment of spatially distributed systems, such as advective transport of substances in the microcirculation and exchange of substances between the blood and tissue. 

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