Hydrolases bound to the intestinal brush border : An example of transmembrane proteins

hydrophobic domain inserted in the membrane, stabilizing the head at the surface ; (c) a short segment penetrating into the cytoplasm. This type of transmembrane proteins could be implicated in the transfer of any kind of information from one side of the cellular plasma membrane to the other. In particular, the amino acids originating from peptides due to the catalytic activity of the « head » might be directly injected into the carrier system. This mechanism has not yet been experimentally confirmed. However, it would economize energy and explain why amino acids originating from peptides in the lumen were better adsorbed than free amino acids.