Timescale:
- milliseconds to minutes
Forms:
- ion gradients
- ATP turnover
- redox pools
- phosphagens
These are buffers, not substantial bulk reserves.
Operational definition
Storage-timescale category.
The reversible stabilization of cellular energetic variables over very short intervals when energy demand and energy production temporarily diverge.
Typical stabilized variables include:
- ATP/ADP ratio;
- energy charge;
- membrane potential;
- proton motive force;
- redox balance.
Immediate buffering operates over seconds or minutes relative to the organism and has limited total capacity.