The Energetics of Ion Distribution: The Origin of the Resting Electric Potential of Cells

Abstract

SummaryThe relation between the energies of ion movement and ATP hydrolysis is unknown in tissues with widely varying electric potentials. Consequently, we measured the concentration of the nine major inorganic ions in the extra-and intracellular phases in heart, liver, and red cells with resting electrical potentials, E N , of −86, −28, and −6 mV, respectively, under six different physiological conditions. We calculated the Nernst electric potential and the energy of ion movement between the phases. We found that the energy of ATP hydrolysis was essentially constant, between −54 and −58 kJ/mol, in all tissues and conditions. In contrast, as E N decreased, the energies of the Na + and K + gradients decreased, with slopes approximating their valence. The difference between the energies of Na + and K + gradients remained constant at 17 kJ/mol, which is approximately one third of the energy of ATP hydrolysis, demonstrating near-equilibrium of the Na + /K + ATPase in all tissues under all conditions. All cations, except K + , were pumped out of cells and all anions, except Cl − in liver and red cell, were pumped into cells. We conclude that the energy of ATP was expressed in Na + /K + ATPase and its linked inorganic ion transporters to create a Gibbs-Donnan near-equilibrium system, an inherent part of which was the electric potential.

Cancer as a Metabolic Disease

“…This energy is commonly stored in ATP and is released during the hydrolysis of the terminal phosphate bond. This is generally referred to as the free energy of ATP hydrolysis [40][41][42]. The standard energy of ATP hydrolysis under physiological conditions is known as ΔG' ATP and is tightly regulated in all cells between -53 to -60 kJ/mol [43].…”

Senomic view of the cell: SenomeversusGenome

“…Every living organism is dependent on this electrical circumstance and the resultant electrostatic attractional forces that enable the atomic bonding that generates every type of matter. In biological membranes, especially the plasma membrane, ion channel and transport activities generate bioelectric fields [116,117] which also summate to generate cell, tissue and organ-specific fields. These act as coherent resonances that assist in the integration and organization of multicellular organisms such as plants, fungi, animals and humans.…”

“…Electric stimulations are used for the treatment of depression, bipolar mood disorders and mood elevation [147,148]. For the molecular composition of signal transduction and information-processing networks of the Senome , see references 56, 63, 116, 117, 126–137.…”

Myocardial substrate metabolism in obesity

“…43,50,51 Hence, although the electron transport chain is in itself a remarkably efficient series of biochemical reactions, 52 the free energy of ATP hydrolysis is not identical for all substrates (Figure 4). 53,50,51 Heat of combustion is also of inherent importance when considering the potential impact of mitochondrial substrate selection on energetic performance.…”

“…In case of cellular substrate energetics, the final common endpoint for the complete oxidation of carbon fuels is the conservation of energy in the phosphate bonds of ATP. Therefore, applying this concept to the equation above, the inherent energy stored in this bond (DG ATP hydrolysis ) can be calculated from the equation [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] …”