Calcium pumps properties

The sodium and calcium pumps can be isolated to near purity and still exhibit most of the biochemical properties of the native pump. Some kinetic properties of these pumps in native membranes are altered or disappear as membrane preparations are purified. For example, when measured in intact membranes, the time-dependencies of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the pump catalytic sites exhibit biphasic fast to slow rate transition this characteristic progressively disappears as the membranes are treated with mild detergents. One suggested explanation is that, as the pumps begin to cycle, the catalytic subunits associate into higher oligomers that may permit more efficient transfer of the energy from ATP into the ion transport process [29, 30], Some structural evidence indicates that Na,K pumps exist in cell membranes as multimers of (a 3)2 [31]. 

Sorin, A., Rosas, G., and Rao, R., 1997, PMR1, a Ca2+-ATPase in yeast Golgi, has properties distinct from sarco/endoplasmic reticulum and plasma membrane calcium pumps. J. Biol. Chem. 272, 9895-9901... 

Calcium effects. The biochemical effects of Ca "" in the cytoplasm are mediated by special Ca -binding proteins calcium sensors"). These include the annexins, calmodulin, and troponin C in muscle (see p. 334). Calmodulin is a relatively small protein (17 kDa) that occurs in all animal cells. Binding of four Ca "" ions (light blue) converts it into a regulatory element. Via a dramatic conformational change (cf 2a and 2b), Ca -calmodulin enters into interaction with other proteins and modulates their properties. Using this mechanism, Ca "" ions regulate the activity of enzymes, ion pumps, and components of the cytoskeleton. 

SERCA pumps in cultured COS cells. Their functional properties were studied using isolated microsomes. The initial in vitro studies reported that SERCA1 and SERCA2a isoforms shared similar Ca2+ affinity and velocity of Ca2+ uptake (Vmax). Subsequently, a higher kinetic turnover was demonstrated for the SERCA1 compared with the SERCA2a isoform (5.0- versus 2.6-fold increase in calcium uptake rate) (Sumbilla et al 1999). 

The most thorough study of the formation of artificial casein micelles is that of Schmidt and co-workers (1977 1979 Schmidt and Koops, 1977 Schmidt and Both, 1982 Schmidt and Poll, 1989), who not only studied the properties of the casein aggregates but also attempted to relate them to the solution conditions under which they were formed. In the precipitation of calcium phosphate from solution, the means by which solutions are mixed together is of crucial importance Schmidt et al. (1977) described a method in which four solutions were pumped simultaneously into a reaction vessel while keeping the pH constant. As a result of careful, slow mixing, the reproducibility of the size distributions of particles, measured by electron microscopy on freeze-fractured and freeze-etched specimens, was very good. In the first series of experiments, the objective was to produce milk like concentrations of the most important ions while... 

We will consider the structural and mechanistic features of P-type ATPases by examining the Ca ATPase found in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR Ca ATPase, or SERCA) of muscle cells. The properties of this member have been established in great detail, by relying on crystal structures of the pump in five different states. This enzyme, which constitutes 80% of the protein in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, plays an important role in muscle contraction, a process triggered by an abrupt rise in the cytoplasmic calcium ion level. Muscle relaxation depends on the rapid removal of from the cytoplasm into the sarcoplasmic reticulum, a specialized compartment for Ca storage, by SERCA, This pump maintains a Ca" concentration of approximately 0.1 pM in the cytoplasm compared with 1.5 mM in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. 

Conventional calcium greases have good adhesive properties and they are extremely water resistant. At relatively low cost, their use today continues in cool, wet conditions such as in marine applications, propeller housings and water pumps. 

In a paper on pump-water from Rathbone Place, London, Cavendish says that in 1765 he noticed the deposition of calcareous earth on boiling the water, which also separated as a scurf on the surface of the water on exposure to air. On adding a solution of corrosive sublimate a precipitate was formed, a property which does not take place, in any considerable degree, in most of the London waters . He proved that the calcareous earth (calcium carbonate) was held in solution by fixed air ... 

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