Plasma mechanistic aspects

This pioneering work showed that the sodium pump was not confined to the plasma membrane of excitable cells (the pump is in fact found in virtually all animal cells) it also paved the way for an avalanche of mechanistic studies examining very many aspects of the function of the sodium pump. These included partial reactions, kinetic affinities for the three substrates at both sides of the membrane and their mutual interdependence, ATP utilization and its stoichiometric relationship to cation fluxes. Such experiments were readily performed on the red cell since these are available in large quantities and the development of simple technical procedures such as red cell ghost formation by transient hypotonic shock allowed ready access to, and control of, the intra- as well as extra-cellular face of the pump. 

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