The membrane channel is formed by an antiparallel beta-barrel.

Most pores used for diffusion contain only 16 antiparallel strands, but maltoporin has 18. The structure of maltoporin contains long loops and short turns. The long loops are in contact with the cell exterior and the turns are in contact with the periplasm. This channel is involved in sugar transport. The sugar initially binds to the first greasy residue with van der Waals forces.