In the small intestine, pancreatic amylase begins to break down polysaccharides into disaccharides. These disaccharides travel to the cell membrane of enterocytes, where membrane-bound digestive enzymes act on the disaccharides and break them down into monomeric sugars. However, both galactose and glucose are transported into the cell using the sodium-dependent secondary active transport system. This means that it uses a sodium-potassium ATPase to create an electrochemical gradient where there is a lower sodium concentration inside the cell than outside.