Counterarguments against Alleged Proof of the Na-K Pump in Studies of K+ and Na+ Distributions in Amphibian Eggs

摘要

With the aid of an ingenious technique called the reference phase method. Horowitz and his coworkers tested the alternative theories of solute distribution in living cells. Many interesting and significant findings were reported. However, a careful study of their papers led me to the belief that their claim of a proof for the Na pump theory was unwarranted. By taking into account other relevant information in the literature one can argue that their data in fact support an alternative hypothesis, the association-induction hypothesis. Distribution patterns of K+, Na+ and other solutes in all kinds of living cells, including frog muscle, squid axon, human red cells, and amphibian eggs, as well as all subcellular particles, including the yolk platelets, can be adequately described by one general equation of solute distribution.