Energy transfer in cells?

[JohnBoy2000]

They say, "cells slow down with age".

Not entirely sure what that means but, as far as cell firing and energy production;

So cell energy essential comes from fat/protein/carb transfer into ATP via mitochondria based Krebs cycle.

ATP hydrolysis produces the energy required for cellular process - so, ATP to ADP+P, breaking the bond producing energy essentially.

The process it has been experimentally confirmed as driving, is ion flux in and out of cells, driving action potentials or basic "cellular firing" (which is what's inferred with the statement, "cells slow down with age"?)

Other processes also such as signalling pathways driving Kinase phosphorylation, elements of gene expression/protein synthesis - and just overall cellular function, our "energy source" as ATP bond hydrolysis.


My question is - this energy is transferred - how?

Exergonic?

Thermodynamic?

An ATP splits and provides energy for ion flux, but how does that energy get from, and implicate, presumably the ion pump?
And all the aforementioned processes?

Is it essentially wave based transference?

So essentially a quantum process, that which facilitates energy use of ATP splitting by other cellular processes/functions?

Is it known/understood?

Cause anything I've read thus far goes to the effect of, "ATP provides energy for other cellular processes.....", and no additional explanation is really given.

 

[JohnBoy2000]

Ion transporter - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ion transport according to this, relies on ATP.

According to this additionally it would appear that, necessity for ATP drives its production.

i.e. its production does not seem to heighten cellular process, but rather cellular process heighten a demand for ATP thus increase mitochondrial output.

One would think it may be the other way around but no, ion pumps in essence, dictate ATP production, dictates cellular "power house" function.


There's a paper recently released,

Microglia phagocytose myelin sheaths to modify developmental myelination - Nature Neuroscience

Microglia refine the developing CNS by engulfing excess neurons and synapses. Hughes and Appel here show that microglia also prune myelin sheaths in a neuronal activity-regulated manner to sculpt developmental myelination.

www.nature.com

By using a combination of optical, genetic, chemogenetic, and behavioral approaches, we reveal that neuronal activity bidirectionally balances microglial association with neuronal cell bodies and myelin phagocytosis in the optic tectum.

Some gifs:



Basically outlining microglia pruning neural myelin sheaths but, activity dependant on the neural firing.

So, for intents and purposes it appears many maintenance neural processes are essentially performed by way of neural activity, or as a function of that activity.

Thus neural firing seems in many respects, to dictate cellular well being.

 

[allone]

i know for a fact from a very long experience abusing ethanol that it slows down and even destroys cells excessively. it completely diminishes their fuel. alcohol abuse is mimitec of starvation in many ways. hence why drinking causes me to eat everything in sight! the energy of cells need anything to survive after severe battering by energy depleting ethanol. which always makes me wonder what process is involved in the alcohol/cancer connection, since alcohol literally kills ALL cells, cancerous or healthy. i assume its afterwards when they replicate there is some severe dysfunction in how they produce properly because of the severe battering. just my theory... but there arent many good explanations really so i kind of stick with this one for now

 

[Shady's Fox]

John is a little funky brain worm. What can we make out of this thread?