Ion
Radius (
Å )/
Coordination
No.
Concentration (mM)
Carriers, Facilitators, Enzymes,
Cofactors Function/Toxicity
Extracellular
(BloodPlasma)
Intracellular (Red Blood
Cells)
Mg
2+
0.65/6
2
2.5
Ionophores, ATPases, kinases,
enolases, glutamine synthetase, methyl aspartase, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, alkaline phosphatase, xylose isomerase, chlorophyll
Nucleic acid stabilization, electrostatics,
structure and potential stabilization or catalysis in enzymes
Ca
2+
0.99/7( ± )
2
10
− 4
Ionophores, Ca - ATPases, EF -
hand proteins, extracellular digestive enzymes, structural/storage proteins
Stabilize skeletal matter, muscle and nerve
triggering, activation of kinases, catalysis
Sr
2+
1.13
Toxicity — replaces calcium in bone,
6
treatment of androgen - independent prostate cancer
7
Ba
2+
1.35
BaSO
used as contrast agent for 4
radiography and MRI and in bone cements used for the fi
xation of joint
prostheses, Ba
2+
inhibits K
+ fl
ux through
potassium ion channels
Ra
2+
1.43
Radiation therapy for carcinomas
Sources
: References 1 and 2.
INTRODUCTION 191