Sodium-Potassium Pump

Dennae: Okay. ....I'm (supposedly) learning about neuron firing.

Textbook says the net effect of each cycle of the sodium-potassium pump decreases the number of positively charged ions within the cell.

I also says that to do this the S-P pump inserts 3 positive sodium ions into the cell and releases 2 positive potassium ions.

Can someone explain this, as I can't get the math to work

AussieOi: Not a chance. I can overview unhelpfully though. Lets say that we have balance of charge to have harmony and things stay the same. Imbalance of charge is disharmonious and things do change. This anomaly throws up the fact that we have charge imbalance in working systems that work. Happy now? Please don't cry.

Dennae: Tis okay, seems to be a *slight* misprint in the text book.

bright_light101: its rather simple: 3 Na+ gets pumped outside of the cell whilst 2 K+ in the cell creating a resting potential of up to -70 mV. It would be just -10mV had it been only the pump working, but we musn't forget about the potassium leakage channel which contributes to establishing the resting potential. When Sodium rush into the cell down its concentration gradient, it depolarizes the cell thereby making the intracellular portaion more positive. Eventually the Sodium inactivation gates close, and the potassium leakage channel is still at work. The leakage of potassium outwards down its concentration gradient re-establishes the resting potential, or even hyperpolarizes it due to the electrochemical gradient.

Corwin: Is this why I get leg cramps if I don't eat bananas?

bright_light101: yeah, if you don't eat bananas which have a lot of calcium, you have increased osteoporosis, meaning calcium reabsorption from the bones, but im pretty sure bananas aren't the only source of calcium out there!

Corwin: Oh... I thought it was the high level of potassium that bananas possess that is somehow necessary for proper nerve attenuation. I've been told to eat more potatoes too. I eat plenty of dairy products and drink milk every day, so I'm pretty sure my calcium intake is up to snuff.

But my left leg, which usually is the one that cramps, also has a large stainless-steel staple surgically implanted in the left knee from a previous motorcycle injury. I wonder if the presence of such a large subcutaneous metal object could possibly be creating micro-currents that interfere with proper nerve attenuation, and trigger the cramp?

bright_light101: i actually don't know about that, but i'm pretty sure i will once i start medschool. Have you seen a doctor regarding the situation?

Corwin: Not per say.... a friend of mine is a paramedic though, and my leg cramps came up in conversation... he told me I was probably low on potassium and told me to eat more bananas. I did, and I haven't had a problem since. I was reminded of it when reading the original posts here, as I previously didn't know about the working mechanisms of how potassium actually was involved in the process. Quite interesting.

CoIin: Why didn't you just eat lots of potassium?

LilMissAlexandria: i had sodium thrown into my face i pressed charges of a salt

CoIin: LOL.

Recently while passing through Heathrow Airport, I was found with a compass, protractor and ruler in my suitcase. They charged me with being in possession of weapons of math instruction.

LilMissAlexandria: lmao

CoIin: However I'm afraid your case wouldn't hold water. Doesn't sodium have to combine with something else to be a salt?

It should've been thrown out of court. The case, I mean

Corwin: Have you seen that other post "The Case for Jesus"?

It should be at least 6 feet tall and have a see-through top so we can all see His face,

If I was going to keep Jesus as an action-figure, I would want to preserve him.

bright_light101: Colin, sodium needs to be combined with chlorine to be salt, in which our body has plenty of as means of regulating depolarizing currents.

Corwin: Sodium-chloride is a myth..... circus-midgets are proof of this.

Everyone knows this.

bright_light101: ?? lol it's elementary chemistry. =S

Corwin: Gotcher' nose!!

I've been collecting these by the way.....

Don't feel bad... you're not the first.

CoIin: re Case for Jesus

Yeah, Chairman Mao has a case like that. I saw him in Beijing a few years ago.

Corwin: Jesus deserved a nice case.

CoIin: Yes, with a nice pump.

Corwin: Yes... I would also expect a pump like this.

LilMissAlexandria: i miss mao such a lovely dictator

ainoko57: Is it true that some parts of the Great Walls of China have been experiencing soil erosion...such as mudslides along the walls because of US involvement in cloud seeding?

Corwin: No.