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Updated: May 30, 2026

Measuring In Vitro ATPase Activity for Enzymatic Characterization
Published on: August 23, 2016
Apyrases, extracellular ATP and the regulation of growth
1Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Abstract:
Although no definitive receptor for extracellular ATP (eATP) has been identified in plants, there is now stronger physiological evidence that the effects of eATP on plant growth are mediated by a receptor, or, as in animals, by multiple receptors. Recent papers clarify how extracellular nucleotides induce changes in [Ca(2+)](cyt), and the production of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species. They document links between eATP signaling and the synthesis or transport of hormones, and they reveal that applied nucleotides can regulate the aperture of stomates, which release ATP when stimulated by light and hormones. Ectoapyrases (ecto-nucleoside triphosphate-diphosphohydrolase) help control both the diverse signaling changes and downstream growth changes induced by extracellular nucleotides by limiting their concentration in the extracellular matrix (ECM).
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