What is the purpose of the Na+ and K+ pumps in animals?

It is an enzyme that, in opposition to the concentration gradients in the cells, pumps potassium into the cells and sodium out of them.

The sodium-potassium pump controls cell volume, effects transport, and preserves resting potential.

Resting potential: The sodium-potassium pump is a mechanism that helps cells maintain a low concentration of sodium ions and a high concentration of potassium ions within them by moving three sodium ions out and two potassium ions in.

Transport: The sodium-potassium pump creates a sodium gradient that is utilized by a number of carrier processes, including those that take place in the renal tubular system and the gut. In these processes, the pump acts as a propellant for a number of secondary active transporters that use the sodium gradient to bring nutrients such as glucose and amino acids into the cell.

Cell volume control: The sodium-potassium pump helps to keep the proper concentration of ions in the cell. If the pump fails, the cell may swell and eventually lyse.

Signal transducer: Through controlling protein phosphorylation, the sodium-potassium pump can also transmit extracellular ouabain binding signals into the cell. This results in a series of downstream events, such as the initiation of mitogen-activated protein kinase signal cascades, the generation of reactive oxygen species within the mitochondria, and the activation of phospho lipase C and inositol triphosphate receptor in various intracellular compartments.

Regulating states of neuronal activity: This pump has been demonstrated to modulate and reset the intrinsic activity mode of cerebellar Purkinje neurons, mitral cells in the accessory olfactory bulb, and other neuronal types; it has been proposed that the pump functions as a computational component in the cerebellum and brain.

Four distinct sub-types, or isoforms, of the sodium pump exist in all mammals. Each has a different set of characteristics and patterns of tissue expression.

The purpose of the Na+ and K+ pumps in animals is to maintain the electrochemical gradient and the resting membrane potential across the cell membrane.