Question

The Sodium/potassium ATPase pump has been called the “center of the universe.” Why do you think that is?

You will need to explain electrochemical gradients, resting membrane potentials and ion movement. You will also need to cover the difference between osmolarity and concentration. You should include examples of three different places in the body that we have learned about cellular processes and how the sodium/potassium ATPase pump plays a role (Only one of these should be electrical). feel free to include illustrations.

Answer 1

• The Sodium/potassium ATPase pump has been called the “center of the universe because of its vital role in conducting nerve impulses throughout your body. Without the nervous system, there is no integration between the organs of the body and eventually the body system collapses. Therefore, NaK pump is vital for the survival of the being.
• Being a signal transducer/integrater, it regulates the MAPK pathway along with regulating intracellular calcium.
• Not only nervous system, the function of this pump underlies most cellular processes. In kidney, the pump is used to maintain the sodiuma nd potassium balance of plasma which is much critical for homeostasis.
• The importance of Na+ K+-ATPase pump in heart is explained by blocking its function in heart. Accumulation of calcium leads to increase the force of contraction of heart muscle as the sodium level inside the cell increases.
• It maintains the fluid volume by exerting its effect on kidney. When high sodium is retained by the kidney, increaes the blood volume by producing little concentrated urine. Sodium is the important electrolyte in determining the serum or plasma osmolality which is the measure of the different solutes in plasma. Sodium with its corresponding anion like chloride and bicarbonate and also glucose, and urea determines the omolality. Osmolality is defined as the number of osmoles per kilogram of water.

Sodium potassium pump is a transport protein found in your cell membranes. It transports 2 potassium ions into the cell while simultaneously moving 3 sodium ions out of the cell. It forms the concentration gradients by moving the ions against the concentration , which is used to transmit electrical signals that travel along nerves. Thereby, it mainatains higher sodium concentration extracellularly and higher potassium concentration intracellularly.