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colleen colleen
wrote...
Valued Member
Posts: 17076
12 years ago
The Na+/K+ ATPase pump plays only a minor role in directly generating the resting membrane potential. (The electrogenic contributions are minimal.) However, the cell's membrane potential would not be possible without it. Explain how this can be true.   
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Sunshine ☀ ☼

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wrote...
12 years ago
the pump operates to expel the na+ that is constantly entering through other transporters and ion channels. In this way, the pump keeps the na+ concentration in the cytosol about 10-30 times lower than in the extracellular fluid and the K+ concentration about 10-30 times higher. under normal conditions, the interior of most cells is at a negative electric potential compared with the exterior, so that positive ions tend to be pulled into the cell. This means that the inward electrochemical driving force for Na+ is large, as it includes the driving force due to the concentration gradient and a driving force in the same direction due to the voltage gradient. 

Hopefully that helps you out a bit
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