Elevator-type transporters are a group of proteins translocating nutrients and metabolites across cell membranes. Despite structural and functional differences, elevator-type transporters use a common mechanism of substrate translocation via reversible movements of a mobile core domain (the elevator), which includes the substrate binding site, along a rigid scaffold domain, stably anchored in the plasma membrane. How substrate specificity is determined in elevator transporters remains elusive. Here, I discuss how a recent report on the sliding elevator mechanism, seen under the context of genetic analysis of a prototype fungal transporter, sheds light on how specificity might be genetically modified. I propose that flexible specificity alterations might occur by ‘loosening’ of the sliding mechanism from tight coupling to substrate binding.

电梯型转运蛋白是一组跨细胞膜转运营养物质和代谢物的蛋白质。尽管结构和功能存在差异，但电梯型转运蛋白通过移动核心域（电梯）的可逆运动使用底物易位的常见机制，其中包括底物结合位点，沿着刚性支架域，稳定锚定在质膜中。如何在电梯运输车中确定底物特异性仍然难以捉摸。在这里，我讨论了在原型真菌转运蛋白的遗传分析背景下看到的关于滑动升降机机制的最新报告如何阐明特异性如何被遗传修饰。我建议通过“松散”滑动机制从紧密耦合到底物结合，可能会发生灵活的特异性改变。