text: The cation-carrier effect is characterized by surfactins ability to drive monovalent and divalent cations through an organic barrier. The two acidic residues aspartate and glutamate form a "claw" to stabilize divalent cations, such as Ca ions used as an assembly template for the formation of micelles. When surfactin penetrates the outer sheet, its fatty acid chain interacts with the acyl chains of the phospholipids, orienting its headgroup toward the phospholipids polar heads. Attachment of a cation causes the complex to cross the bilipidic layer using flippase enzymes. The headgroup aligns itself with the phospholipids of the inner sheet and the fatty acid chain interacts with the phospholipids acyl chains. The cation is then delivered into the intracellular medium.