The giant squid trees

2000/03/07 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia
• Medikuntza

The cells of the body also do not rest completely while we sleep. Sending messages, food transport, and chemical movement to prevent their accumulation in dangerous concentrations.

When the body is standing, half of the energy consumed is used to pump ions (atoms loaded with elements such as sodium or potassium) through cell membranes. In this way, the distribution (gradient) of different chemical compounds is controlled.

Chemically protected entrance

The substances are introduced and extracted in the cells in exchange for the possibility of performing other functions. Compensation is a type of chemical. Each cell moves millions of ions every second. If they do not move properly, there may be a risk of heart disease.

In addition to humans, sodium and potassium pumping is fundamental in the cells of all animals. It is a general system in nature to «cross the border». For this reason, scientists from the marine biology laboratory Woods Hole have investigated in nerve cells of giant pumping. The results of the study have been published recently. It was formerly known that a cell membrane protein simultaneously pumped three sodium ions. Deformations of the protein have now been studied to produce this process. Understanding this behavior means opening the door of the base of cell life.

The nervous systems of giant squid have been analyzed for at least sixty years. Among other things, we have learned how electrical signals occur between neurons, how they are transported in the neuronal network, and how the pH of the body is controlled. The reason is the size.

The axons of the giant squid are also giant, thousands of times bigger than ours and, therefore, much easier to handle. Other types of diseases have been studied in the organs of these animals. For example, infarction, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and kidney problems.

Annual meeting of scientists

In spring thousands of giant squid starts migrating to Cape Cod (in the United States, on the Atlantic coast, near New York). They never take long to reach the coast of Woods Hole. In these waters hundreds of squid and hundreds of boats converge. And in their laboratories also hundreds of neurobiologists come together to investigate. Among them, Miguel Holmgren and his co-workers, who have investigated the pumping of ions. There are also very distant people, as scientists come from Argentina or Germany to devote themselves to their laboratories throughout the spring and summer.