ATPase is an enzyme that can hydrate ATP and release the potential energy stored in the phosphate bond . How would a metabolic inhibitor that blocks ATPase function affect resting potential of nerve cell.

There would be a change in the membrane potential which will become less negative.

Explanation:

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is a nucleotide used t obtaining cellular energy. The main function of ATP is to provide energy in the biochemical process that take place inside the cell to maintain its functions. It consists of a nitrogenous base, called adenosine, which is linked to carbon 1 of a pentose type sugar. To keep phosphates together in the triphosphate group requires a lot of energy, specifically 7.7 kcal of free energy per mole of ATP, which is the same amount of energy that is released when ATP is hydrolyzed to ADP.

ATPases are a class of enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of ATP into ADP and it also releases a free phosphate ion. This reaction releases energy, henceforth it is exergonic. And this energy is used to carry out other chemical reactions. However, the process that carries out an ATPase on an ATP molecule is also called dephosphorylation. This process releases energy, which the enzyme uses to drive other chemical reactions.

The resting potential of the cell membrane is the difference in potential between the outside and the inside of a cell. This is because the cell membrane behaves as a selective semi-permeable barrier, for example, it allows certain molecules to pass through it and prevents others from doing so. In neurons, which are electrically excitable cells, the resting potential is recorded by the asymmetric distribution of ions (mainly potassium and sodium) when the cell is physiologically at rest (not excited). This potential is calculated by knowing the concentration of the different ions inside and outside the cell, and the resting potential is generally negative.

The sodium-potassium pump is an ATPase that transports three sodium ions out of the cell and also pumps two potassium ions from the outside into the cell, through active transport, using ATP as the source of energy. This pump maintains the differences in sodium and potassium concentration across the cell membrane, and establishes a negative electrical voltage inside the cells. So, this involves the establishment of a net electrical current across the cell membrane, which generates an electrical potential between the inside and outside of the cell.

If a metabolic inhibitor blocks the ATPase (it means, if it blocks the transport of ions that establishes the resting potential), there would be a change in the membrane potential which will become less negative. If the membrane potential becomes more positive, it is depolarized. If the membrane potential becomes more negative, it is hyperpolarized (this means, there would not be hyperpolarization)

Hyperpolarization is the change in the membrane potential that makes it more negative, and it is the opposite of a depolarization (so it inhibits action potentials) An action potential is the wave of electrical discharge that travels along the cell membrane modifying its electrical charge distribution. It is used to carry information between tissues. So with the inhibitor, there will not be an action potential.

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