Na,K-ATPase containing the amino acid substitution glutamate to alanine at position 779 of the alpha subunit (Glu779Ala) supports a high level of Na-ATPase and electrogenic Na+-Na+ exchange activity in the absence of K+. In microsomal preparations of Glu779Ala enzyme, the Na+ concentration for half maximal activation of Na-ATPase activity was 161 +/- 14 mM (n = 3). Furthermore, enzyme activity ...

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) contract as intracellular free calcium ([Ca],) rises. While Na-Ca exchange has been proposed to contribute to transmembrane Ca flux, its role in cultured VSMC is unknown. Accordingly, we have investigated the role of Na-Ca exchange in unidirectional and net transmembrane Ca fluxes in cultured rat aortic VSMC under basal conditions and following agonist-mediat...

The causes of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction in uremia are not well known and are not completely reversed by dialysis. This problem was investigated in synaptosomes, which are membrane vesicles from synaptic junctions in the brain. We measured Na uptake under conditions of control, veratridine stimulation, and tetrodotoxin inhibition, in synaptosomes from normal and acutely uremic (bl...

The Na(v)1.2 and Na(v)1.3 voltage-gated sodium channel isoforms demonstrate distinct differences in their kinetics and voltage dependence of fast inactivation when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Co-expression of the auxiliary beta1 subunit accelerated inactivation of both the Na(v)1.2 and Na(v)1.3 isoforms, but it did not eliminate the differences, demonstrating that this property is inherent in...

Na/K pump activity and metabolic rate are both higher during the day in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that houses the circadian clock. Here we investigated the role of intracellular Na(+) and energy metabolism in regulating Na/K pump activity and neuronal excitability. Removal of extracellular K(+) to block the Na/K pump excited SCN neurons to fire at higher rates and return to normal K(+) ...

in order to evaluate the relationships between some traits of iranian rice seedlings under saline conditions,,75 iranian cultivars as traditional, improved and introduced cultivars were used, as a randomized complete block design experiment with 3 replications at rice research institute of iran in three levels of salinity (normal ,1.2 , 4 and 8 ds.m-1) in 2006. root and shoot length, root and s...

background and aims: each year, the influenza virus causes moderate to severe infections with a high prevalence throughout the world. accordingly, an influenza vaccine that ensures protection with only a single dose would be a much more cost effective approach to influenza prophylaxis. generation of influenza non-replicating virus-like particles (vlp) in baculoviral expression system is an attr...