Researchers discover turbo switch of calcium pump in biological cells
Sunday, October 21, 2012 - 12:01
in Biology & Nature
When animals and plants are exposed to influences such as bacterial attack, odour and cold, calcium ions flow into the cells. The calcium provides the cells with a signal about what is going on outside, but as high concentrations of calcium are toxic to the cells, it must be quickly pumped out again. Researchers from the Danish National Research Foundation's PUMPkin Centre at both the University of Copenhagen and Aarhus University have now shown that calcium pumps in the cell's outer membrane adjust the pump speed very accurately to the calcium concentration. These findings have just been published in the journal Nature.