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An Allometric Comparison Of Microsomal Membrane Lipid Composition And Sodium Pump Molecular Activity In The Brain Of Mammals And Birds, Anthony J. Hulbert, Paul Else, Nigel Turner

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Previous research has shown that the lipid milieu surrounding membrane proteins may be an important factor in determining their activity. To investigate this we have examined sodium pump molecular activity and microsomal membrane lipid composition in the brain of five mammalian and eight avian species ranging in size from 30 g mice to 280 kg cattle and 13 g zebra finches to 35 kg emus, respectively. Sodium pump (Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase) activity was higher in the smaller species and showed a significant allometric decline with body mass in both the mammals (μmol P_i h^-1 mg wet …