Question

1. Draw/Describe how the Na+/K+ pump functions. Use specific details, present steps in chronological order using a cause/effect - if/then approach: “if ___(cause) occurs, then ____(effect) happens). Include concentrations gradients (before and after), membrane proteins, direction of molecule flow (into/out of, from high to low/low to high, up/down or with/against the gradient). Include any additional details you feel are relevant. What type of transport is this? What is the overall role of the pump?

Answer 1

The Na+ K+ pump is an electrogenic transmembrane ATPase situated in the outer plasma membrane of the cells; on the cytosolic side.The Na+ K+ ATPase pumps 3 Na+ out of the cell and 2K+ that into the cell, for every single ATP consumed. The plasma membrane is a lipid bilayer that arranged asymmetrically, containing cholesterol, phospholipids, glycolipids, sphingolipid, and proteins within the membrane.The Na+K+-ATPase pump helps to maintain osmotic equilibrium and membrane potential in cells.

The sodium and potassium move against the concentration gradients. The Na+ K+-ATPase pump maintains the gradient of a higher concentration of sodium extracellularly and a higher level of potassium intracellularly. The sustained concentration gradient is crucial for physiological processes in many organs and has an ongoing role in stabilizing the resting membrane potential of the cell, regulation of the cell volume and in the cell signal transduction.It plays a crucial role on other physiological processes, such as maintenance of filtering waste products in the nephrons (kidneys), sperm motility, and production of the neuronal action potential.[5] Furthermore, the physiologic consequences of inhibiting the Na+-K+ ATPase are useful and the target in many pharmacologic applications.

Na, K-ATPase is a crucial scaffolding protein that can interact with signaling proteins such as protein kinase C (PKC) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K).

What would happen if sodium potassium pump was inhibited?

The inhibition of the Na/K pump will allow Na ions to accumulate in the cell, as K ion will fall. So this creates a depolarization in the cell membrane. ... Thus the energy released from the dephosphilation is completely used by the transport protein to force ions against their electrochemical gradient.

This is a process of active transport as it uses ATP for energy to transport.

Function -The Na+/K+-ATPase helps maintain resting potential, affects transport, and regulates cellular volume.^[2] It also functions as a signal transducer/integrator to regulate the MAPK pathway, ROS, as well as intracellular calcium. In fact, all cells expend a large fraction of the ATP they produce (typically 30% and up to 70% in nerve cells) to maintain their required cytosolic Na and K concentrations.^[For neurons, the Na+/K+ ATPase can be responsible for up to 3/4 of the cell's energy expenditure. In many types of tissue, ATP consumption by the Na+/K+ ATPases have been related to glycolysis. This was first discovered in red blood cells (Schrier, 1966), but has later been evidenced in renal cells, smooth muscles surrounding the blood vessels,^[and cardiac purkinje cells.^[7] Recently, glycolysis has also been shown to be of particular importance for Na+/K+ATPases in skeletal muscles, where inhibition of glycogen breakdown (a substrate for glycolysis) leads to reduced Na+/K+ ATPase activity and lower force production