The Student Room Group

Question on the sodium potassium pump

If a question asked "give a function of the sodium potassium pump", would a correct answer be "maintains osmotic balance in animals"???
Not really, osmoregulation is mostly influenced by the kidneys (ADH->water reabsorption from glomerular filtrate). The sodium potassium pump maintains the cell membrane potential (resting potential), and facilitates the transport of substances (e.g. cotransporter protein in the kidney utilises the sodium gradient to transport glucose and amino acids into the cell), etc.
Reply 2
Original post by Bananapeeler
Not really, osmoregulation is mostly influenced by the kidneys (ADH->water reabsorption from glomerular filtrate). The sodium potassium pump maintains the cell membrane potential (resting potential), and facilitates the transport of substances (e.g. cotransporter protein in the kidney utilises the sodium gradient to transport glucose and amino acids into the cell), etc.


but on wikipedia, it says "
Controlling cell volume[edit]Failure of the Na+-K+ pumps can result in swelling of the cell. A cell's osmolarity is the sum of the concentrations of the various ionspecies and many proteins and other organic compounds inside the cell. When this is higher than the osmolarity outside of the cell, water flows into the cell through osmosis. This can cause the cell to swell up and lyse. The Na+-K+ pump helps to maintain the right concentrations of ions. Furthermore, when the cell begins to swell, this automatically activates the Na+-K+ pump."
so surely saying it mantains osmotic balance in animals is right?
You're talking on a cellular level, when you specify "in an animal" osmoregulation would refer mainly to your kidneys. Yes, for individual cells the Na+/K+ pump is important for osmolarity - but there are hundreds of different osmoregulation mechanisms, none of which have as large an impact as your excretory system.
Reply 4
Original post by Bananapeeler
You're talking on a cellular level, when you specify "in an animal" osmoregulation would refer mainly to your kidneys. Yes, for individual cells the Na+/K+ pump is important for osmolarity - but there are hundreds of different osmoregulation mechanisms, none of which have as large an impact as your excretory system.


yes but the sodium potassium pump still has a key role in osmoregulation, it contributes to maintain an osmotic balance in animals, without it, the body wont be able to maintain its osmotic balance
ok
Reply 6
You could talk about maintaining a resting potential across axon membranes.
Reply 7
Original post by JCal
You could talk about maintaining a resting potential across axon membranes.


yeah, but in an exam i wrote "maintain osmotic balance in animals", do u reckon i would get the mark?
Reply 8
Original post by PND98
yeah, but in an exam i wrote "maintain osmotic balance in animals", do u reckon i would get the mark?


Only if the examiner was feeling particularly generous, I think. As stated, that's majorly covered by other larger processes.
Reply 9
Original post by JCal
Only if the examiner was feeling particularly generous, I think. As stated, that's majorly covered by other larger processes.

okay thanks.if u dont mind me asking, do u reckon i'd get the marks for these questions:
"state the class of amino acid to which valine belongs" i said non-polar.
"state what causes central diabetes inspidus" i said unable to produce ADH
"state the process by which a response within the cell is triggered by the binding of ADH to the receptor" i said signal transduction cascade
Reply 10
Original post by PND98
okay thanks.if u dont mind me asking, do u reckon i'd get the marks for these questions:
"state the class of amino acid to which valine belongs" i said non-polar.
"state what causes central diabetes inspidus" i said unable to produce ADH
"state the process by which a response within the cell is triggered by the binding of ADH to the receptor" i said signal transduction cascade


Valine is definitely non polar, so if yourexam board allows polar/non polar as a classification then it's correct.

However, i didn't do much on ADH so i couldn't tell you if those are correct.
Reply 11
Original post by JCal
Valine is definitely non polar, so if yourexam board allows polar/non polar as a classification then it's correct.

However, i didn't do much on ADH so i couldn't tell you if those are correct.


okay thanks

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending