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The sodium–potassium pump, a critical enzyme for regulating sodium and potassium levels in cells. Sodium ions (Na +) are necessary in small amounts for some types of plants, [1] but sodium as a nutrient is more generally needed in larger amounts [1] by animals, due to their use of it for generation of nerve impulses and for maintenance of electrolyte balance and fluid balance.
Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), also known as voltage-dependent sodium channels (VDSCs), are a group of voltage-gated ion channels found in the membrane of excitable cells (e.g., muscle, glial cells, neurons, etc.) with a permeability to the sodium ion Na +. They are the main channels involved in action potential of excitable cells.
The sodium channel selectivity filter is composed of a single residue in each of the four pore-loops of the four functional domains. These four residues are known as the DEKA motif. [52] The permeation rate of sodium through the sodium channel is determined by a four carboxylate residues, the EEDD motif, which make up the outer charged ring. [52]
As an action potential (nerve impulse) travels down an axon there is a change in electric polarity across the membrane of the axon. In response to a signal from another neuron, sodium- (Na +) and potassium- (K +)–gated ion channels open and close as the membrane reaches its threshold potential.
The open sodium channels allow more sodium ions to flow into the cell and resulting in further depolarisation, which will subsequently open even more sodium channels. At a certain moment this process becomes regenerative ( vicious cycle ) and results in the rapid ascending phase of action potential.
Active transport is essential for various physiological processes, such as nutrient uptake, hormone secretion, and nerve impulse transmission. For example, the sodium-potassium pump uses ATP to pump sodium ions out of the cell and potassium ions into the cell, maintaining a concentration gradient essential for cellular function.
Node of Ranvier in the peripheral nervous system. The nodes are primarily composed of sodium and potassium voltage-gated ion channels; CAMs such as neurofascin-186 and NrCAM; and cytoskeletal adaptor proteins such as ankyrin-G and spectrinβIV. [4]
The soliton hypothesis in neuroscience is a model that claims to explain how action potentials are initiated and conducted along axons based on a thermodynamic theory of nerve pulse propagation. [1] It proposes that the signals travel along the cell's membrane in the form of certain kinds of solitary sound (or density ) pulses that can be ...