Function
Porin or Outer Membrane Proteins (Omps) act as channels which allow passive diffusion of sugars, ions and amino acids. They are beta barrel proteins which traverse the cell membrane. In E. coli they are named according to their genes: C, F, G, etc. (OmpC, OmpF, OmpG).
Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel (VDAC) are ion channel Omps found in outer mitochondrial membrane[1]. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa the porin gene products are named OprD, OprE, OprK, OprP, etc. and OpdC, OpdH, etc.
Maltoporin (LamB) facilitates the diffusion of maltodextrin across the membrane[2].
See more details in
Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel (VDAC) is ion channel Omp found in outer mitochondrial membrane. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa the porin gene products are named OprD, OprK, OprP. The images at the left and at the right correspond to one representative porin structure, i.e. crystal structure osmoporin OmpC from Escherichia coli (2j1n). OmpC has three beta-barrels associated to form a [3]. Porin is a transmembrane protein, as can be
from the hydrophobic ring around the protein, this makes it possible to submerge in the lipid bilayer (hydrophobic amino acids are sandybrown, hydrophilic ones are cyan). As you can the hole in the protein is made of mainly hydrophilic chains thus making it possible for the sugar to pass through (these scenes were created by Nádori Gergely).
3D structures of Porin
Porin 3D structures
