If ATP production is blocked in an animal cell, the cell will swell up. Explain this observation

What will be an ideal response?


ATP is required to power the Na+-K+ pump, which is necessary for maintaining osmotic balance. The pump requires ATP hydrolysis to drive its pumping cycle. So, in the absence of ATP production, the Na+ concentration inside the cell will increase. This is followed by passive diffusion of water across the membrane, causing the cell to swell.

Biology & Microbiology

You might also like to view...

Which of the following is not necessary for a DNA polymerase reaction?

A. template DNA B. primer strand C. ATP D. dNTPs E. All of these components are necessary.

Biology & Microbiology

Bacterial Strain A divides every 30 minutes. If you require at least 4 billion cells to perform an experiment, how many hours will you need to incubate a culture tube inoculated with a single cell of Bacteria A to get enough material to perform your experiment?

A. 8 B. 2 C. 16 D. 32 E. 4

Biology & Microbiology

How many genes are carried on the human X chromosome?

a. 1,336 b. 2,002 c. 228 d. 626 e. 12,000

Biology & Microbiology

Describe how the therapeutic index of a drug is determined and explain its function.

What will be an ideal response?

Biology & Microbiology