Abstract
THE sodium pumps of human erythrocytes and of the squid giant axon can switch from an Na+ : K+ exchanging mode of operation to an Na+ : Na+ exchanging one1–3. This remarkable property puts severe constraints on any proposed model for the sodium pump4. In red blood cells, the mode of operation of the pump is said to depend primarily, though not exclusively, on the intracellular ATP/Pi ratio1, whereas in squid axon, the behaviour of the pump seems to be governed by the ATP/ADP ratio alone2. No experiments have been carried out, however, specifically to test the role of either ADP or Pi in this respect, and it has indeed been envisaged3 that ADP and Pi are equally effective in switching the sodium pump of squid axon from an Na+ : K+ exchanging mechanism to an Na+ : Na+ exchanging one. I wish to describe some experiments specifically designed to differentiate the effects of intracellular ADP and Pi on Na+ efflux from the squid axon.
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References
Garrahan, P. J., and Glynn, I. M., J. Physiol., 192, 189 (1967).
De Weer, P., Nature, 219, 730 (1968).
Baker, P. F., Blaustern, M. P., Keynes, R. D., Manil, J., Shaw, T. I., and Steinhardt, R. A., J. Physiol., 200, 459 (1969).
Caldwell, P. C., Physiol. Rev., 48, 1 (1968).
Albers, R. W., Ann. Rev. Biochem., 36, 727 (1967).
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DE WEER, P. Effects of Intracellular ADP and Pi on the Sodium Pump of Squid Giant Axon. Nature 226, 1251–1252 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2261251a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2261251a0
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