Proton Pump Inhibitor Mechanism: Acid-Trapping & Covalent Inhibition

This simulator visualizes the molecular reason proton pump inhibitors control acid so effectively and for so long: a weak-base drug that freely crosses cell membranes gets protonated and "trapped" the instant it reaches the intensely acidic gastric canaliculus, where it converts into a reactive form that covalently — and essentially irreversibly — disables the H⁺/K⁺-ATPase proton pump. Watch drug molecules diffuse in, get trapped by the acid gradient, and knock out pumps one at a time in a cutaway of the canalicular membrane, then stop dosing and watch acid secretion recover only as slowly as the cell can manufacture replacement pump protein.