A P system description of the sodium-potassium pump

The sodium-potassium pump is a fundamental transmembrane protein present in all animal cells. The functioning of the pump is described and analyzed in the formal framework of P systems, considered here as tools for modelling a bio-cellular process. New features such as variable membrane labelling, activation conditions for rules, membrane bilayer and specific communication rules are defined, to the aim of providing a more appropriate description of the pump. A Sevilla carpet of the sodium-potassium pump is given, as a starting point to identify the pumps as the processors able to execute the rules of a high-level P system in a maximal parallel and nondeterministic manner, activated and controlled by steady-state concentrations. Some related topics for further research are proposed.