Discuss the sodium gradient across the plasma membrane.

How is this gradient used to drive the

movement of other solutes? How would these secondary transport processes be affected by
depolarization of the plasma membrane?

Generally speaking, there are more sodium ions on the outside of the plasma membrane than inside.
This could be caused by the Na/K pump, number of open K and Na channels and other conditions.
The sodium gradient could be used for co-transport (also called secondary transport), which is using
the energy generated to move the other solutes across the membrane.

Sodium electrochemical gradient is composed of two parts. One is the concentration gradient and
another one is the electrical gradient. The plasma membrane itself is phospholipid bilayer which is
impermeable to all charged ions. So transport of ions requires specific proteins called ion channels.
There is a Na/K pump which uses energy provided by hydrolysis of ATP to transport three sodium
ions out of the cell and two potassium ions into the cell against there concentration gradient. It
results in a potential difference in and out of the plasma membrane as well as maintaining a steep
concentration gradient. Normally there are more Na ions outside the cell while more K ions inside
the cell. So according to the concentration gradient Na tend to move into the cell. This property is
enhanced by the electrical gradient as the cell is more negative inside which attracting the Na+
moving in. However, the number of free open Na channel is limited and positively charged ions
cannot diffuse through the plasma membrane. The sodium gradient is maintained.

The sodium gradient could be used in secondary transport which uses a carrier protein to allow Na
moving down the electrochemical gradient and the energy generated by this process is used to
transport other ions such as Ca2+. It is like water from a waterfall that turns a watermill. Since the
huge electrochemical gradient, sometimes the energy generated is large enough to move other ions
against their concentration gradient. This process could be described as facilitated diffusion as it
doesn’t involve hydrolysis of ATP. But could also be described as active transport when moving
ions against their own concentration gradient. There are two types of secondary transport, one is
symport and another one is antiport.

Symport is when the other ion move in the same direction as Na ions. In another word, when the
other ion is moving into the cell. There are quite a few examples of symport transmission. For
example, in neurotransmission, a neurotransmitter Ach (Acetylcholine) is used to send action
potential across a synapse cleft. Ach is released by presynaptic neuron when an action potential
arrives, which then bind to the acetylcholine receptor to trigger an action potential in the
postsynaptic neuron. After that Ach is hydrolyzed by an enzyme on the postsynaptic membrane
called acetylcholinesterase (AChE). AChE split Ach into choline and acetate. Choline is a precious
chemical therefore needed to be recycled back to the presynaptic membrane where choline could be
regenerated into Ach for next transmission of the action potential. It is done by using Na-Choline
co-transporter that driven by diffusion of Na down its electrochemical gradient.
Another example of symport transmission is the sodium-glucose transport in kidney and intestines.
All the glucose in urine needs to be reabsorbed in the process to prevent energy loss. With is co-
transport, glucose is taken back into the blood vessel with Na. There’s also Na/K pump on the
membrane of PCT to pump Na into blood vessels against Na concentration gradient to create a
deficiency of Na in the lumen. It is a quite important process as it also resorbs other ions such as Cl
back to the body.

Opposite to symport, antiport is when the other ions are moving opposite to the direction of Na, in
another word, moving out the cell. For example, Na/Ca co-transport is a very important process of
maintaining Ca concentration inside cell-like neuro and cardiac cells. Ca is essential in generating
muscle contraction heart and transmitting action potential in neurons. It should be kept with low
concentration inside the cell, so a small amount of Ca inflow could cause an effective signal. Na
moves down its gradient to transport Ca outside the cell. Every three Na inflow causes one Ca
outflow. There are other ways of transport of Ca2+ out, but this is a major one.

Depolarisation of plasma membrane is a change in ion permeability due to stimulation. Stimulation

causes the opening of Na voltage-gated channels and causes the inflow of Na. If the depolarization
is over the threshold value, an action potential is generated. When depolarization reaches a peak,
the Na channels close and K channel opens causing repolarization. During the depolarization stage,
Na inflow making the concentration less steep and electrical gradient could also change as Na is
positively charged ion. Originally, the cell is more negative inside. This inflow of Na makes it less
negative which might affect some secondary transport that moves negative ions inside easier.
Because the effect of ion’s electrochemical gradient changes slightly. For example, the Na/Cl
cotransporter in the kidney is a symport that moves 2 Cl- into the cell with each inflow of Na+.
Depolarisation may cause this co-transporter to work easier with more positive electrical gradient
due to more positively charged Na ions attracting the negatively charged Cl ions. However, there
are some special cases, which change in Na concentration inside the cell will cause the co-
transporter to be reversed. For example, the Na/Ca co-transporter will be reversed during
depolarization meaning Na will be pumped out of the cell and Ca move into the cell. This happens
very briefly as there are other pathways to restore the balance.

To sum up, the electrochemical gradient favours in moving of Na ions that are used to generate
energy to move other ions across the membrane, called secondary transport. Depolarization of the
plasma membrane could make the co-transport of negative ions inside easier and out moving of
positive ions harder. In some special cases, the co-transporter could be reversed.