Brain Na(+), K(+)-ATPase Activity In Aging and Disease (original) (raw)

Na(+)/K(+) pump or sodium- and potassium-activated adenosine 5'-triphosphatase (Na(+), K(+)-ATPase), its enzymatic version, is a crucial protein responsible for the electrochemical gradient across the cell membranes. It is an ion transporter, which in addition to exchange cations, is the ligand for cardenolides. This enzyme regulates the entry of K(+) with the exit of Na(+) from cells, being the responsible for Na(+)/K(+) equilibrium maintenance through neuronal membranes. This transport system couples the hydrolysis of one molecule of ATP to exchange three sodium ions for two potassium ions, thus maintaining the normal gradient of these cations in animal cells. Oxidative metabolism is very active in brain, where large amounts of chemical energy as ATP molecules are consumed, mostly required for the maintenance of the ionic gradients that underlie resting and action potentials which are involved in nerve impulse propagation, neurotransmitter release and cation homeostasis. Prote...