What would happen if the carriers proteins the cell membrane stopped working?
That would result in cell death. Carrier proteins are what maintain the specific concentrations of ions, glucose, and other substances inside the cell as well as allow for the transport of toxic bi-products of metabolism outside of the cell. If the pH were raised or lowered enough to negate the cell’s buffer systems, the proteins would denature and stop both active transport and facilitated diffusion. However, raising or lowering the pH of a cell would kill it by stopping metabolic processes which are pH dependent before killing the cell by stopping the carrier proteins. Many poisons act on carrier proteins and cause death. For example, the puffer fish toxin tetrodotoxin blocks the voltage sensitive sodium channels in neurons, an active transport carrier protein, this prevents the neuron from firing and results in total paralysis and eventually death.
