RIKEN biochemists have discovered how a miniscule pump in a marine microbe shuttles negative ions into the cell by changing shape when activated by light. As well as providing insights into how these ...

Ion pumps are assemblies of integral membrane proteins, like ion channels, that modulate ion transport into and out of a cell or organelle, leading to generation of electrical signals. Ion pumps, ...

Six structures exhibited by the rotating sodium ion pump were reconstructed in 3D using cryo-electron microscopy. This analysis revealed that (1) the rotor exhibits non-uniform rotation behavior due ...

New York, NY - A toxin isolated from coral reefs has enabled US scientists to better understand exactly how the sodium/potassium ion pump works and may ultimately help them to design molecules to make ...

Researchers at The Rockefeller University report using palytoxin, a deadly coral-derived toxin, to pry open perhaps the ion pump's deepest secret: that it is essentially a more elaborate version ...

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, Israel's Tel Aviv University and other institutions have developed a first-of-its-kind membrane through which charged molecules pass using nothing ...

Despite surgery and subsequent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, the majority of patients experience recurrence of malignant brain tumors. Researchers have shown in cells in culture that an ...

Our cells are capable of moving energy and material around to the places where they are required, and ensuring that the body works properly. But how do the cells do this in real time from the ...

Right now, in your body, tiny pumps in the fatty membranes surrounding all your cells are hard at work pushing select charged ions, such as sodium, potassium or calcium, through those membranes. Like ...