ABSTRACT
The central importance of the role of the sodium pump in almost all eukaryotic cells is by now well appreciated. In cells of the central nervous system the sodium pump is responsible for maintaining the low intracellular [Na] following the inward Na currents of action potentials. In cells of the kidney and gastrointestinal system and in some (nucleated) red blood cells the sodium pump is required to maintain an inwardly directed Na gradient, the energy of which is used to accumulate solutes, and in many cells the sodium pump in intimately involved in the regulation and control of cell volume. The structure, function, and mechanism of the sodium pump has been the subject of several recent reviews [1–6]. In the present chapter the focus will be on the sodium pump of human red blood cells. The substantial and important literature on other systems that has contributed to our understanding of the sodium pump will only be drawn on to understand the red blood cell phenomena.
