Sodium–potassium pump
Ion channel enzyme pump found in the membrane of all animal cells
Sodium–potassium pump
The sodium–potassium pump (sodium–potassium adenosine triphosphatase, also known as Na+/K+-ATPase, Na+/K+ pump, or sodium–potassium ATPase) is an enzyme (an electrogenic transmembrane ATPase) found in the cell membrane of all animal cells. It performs several functions in cell physiology. The Na+/K+-ATPase enzyme is an enzyme involved in active transport (i.e. it uses energy from ATP). For every ATP molecule that the pump uses, three sodium ions are exported and two potassium ions are imported. Thus, there is a net export of a single positive charge per pump cycle. The net effect is an extracellular concentration of sodium ions 5 times the intracellular concentration, and an intracellular concentration of potassium ions 30 times the extracellular concentration. The sodium–potassium pump was discovered in 1957 by the Danish scientist Jens Christian Skou, who was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in 1997. Its discovery marked an important step forward in the understanding of how ions get...
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