In article <17351FD22S86.KK2543A at american.edu>, KK2543A at american.edu (K. Lee Koetzner) writes:
>In a previous posting, sam at gulf.net wrote (in part):
>> Why does neurotransmission take energy?
>It is true that the ions involved in the generation of an action potential flow
> down their concentration gradients in turn. However, the two major ion gradien
>ts (sodium and potassium) are established through an energy-dependent (ATP-cons
>uming) process--the action of the sodium-potassium transporter, also known as N
>a/K-dependent ATPase (I think). The best discussion of this protein that I have
> seen is in a book called Basic Neurochemistry, by Siegel, Agranoff and two oth
>ers whose names escape me. It's now in a new edition, but I think the basics of
> the protein (e.g., structure, subunit stoichiometry, etc) were worked out some
> time ago, so any edition since about 1985 should answer your questions.
Na/K-dependent ATPase=Na+/K+ Pump
