Journal article
Evolution of our understanding of cell volume regulation by the pump-leak mechanism
The Journal of General Physiology, Vol.151(4), pp.407-416
JGP 100th Anniversary
04/01/2019
DOI: 10.1085/jgp.201812274
PMID: 30782603
Abstract
Kay and Blaustein recount the history of the pump-leak mechanism, which stabilizes cell volume by pumping sodium ions out of cells.
All animal cells are surrounded by a flexible plasma membrane that is permeable to water and to small ions. Cells thus face a fundamental problem: the considerable tension that their membranes would experience if the osmotic influx of water, driven by the presence of impermeant intracellular ions, was left unopposed. The pivotal study that described the cell’s remedy for this impending osmotic catastrophe—the “pump-leak mechanism” (PLM)—was published in the
Journal of General Physiology
by Tosteson and Hoffman in 1960. Their work revealed how the sodium pump stabilizes cell volume by eliminating the osmotic gradient. Here we describe the mechanistic basis of the PLM, trace the history of its discovery, and place it into the context of our current understanding.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Evolution of our understanding of cell volume regulation by the pump-leak mechanism
- Creators
- Alan R Kay - Department of Biology and Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IAMordecai P Blaustein - Departments of Physiology and Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of General Physiology, Vol.151(4), pp.407-416
- Series
- JGP 100th Anniversary
- DOI
- 10.1085/jgp.201812274
- PMID
- 30782603
- NLM abbreviation
- J Gen Physiol
- ISSN
- 0022-1295
- eISSN
- 1540-7748
- Publisher
- Rockefeller University Press
- Alternative title
- The pump-leak mechanism
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/01/2019
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9983992061202771
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