Kinetics of transport: Analyzing, testing, and characterizing models using kinetic approaches

This chapter provides a systematic guide to analyze, test, and characterize models for transport systems using the kinetic approach. The various experimental paradigms are discussed that are used to study the kinetics of membrane transport. The systematic use of such procedures gives a good qualitative indication as to what type of transport system is present in the experimental situation considered. Various models that have been suggested as being relevant to the study of transport are discussed, proceeding from the simplest model to complex ones— simple diffusion simple channel, single-occupancy, carrier model, antiporter or exchange-only carrier. The kinetic predictions for each model are listed. Using the experimental paradigms it is shown how to reject model after model, until one reaches the simplest model that is not rejectable by the available data. The system can then be characterized in terms of the rate constants of the model chosen, using the experimental data.