With the use of the patch-clamp technique, five kinds of stretch-activated (SA) ion channels were identified on the basis of their single-channel conductances and ion selectivities in cultured chick ventricular myocytes. Because a high-conductance K+-selective channel predominated among these channels, we concentrated on characterizing its properties mostly using excised inside-out patches. With 145 mM KCl solution in the pipette and the bath, the channel had a conductance of 199.8 ± 8.2 pS ( n = 22). The ion selectivities among K+, Na+, Ca2+, and Cl− as estimated from their permeability ratios were P Na/ P K= 0.03, P Ca/ P K= 0.025, and P Cl/ P K= 0.026. The probability of the channel being open (Po) increased with the Ca2+concentration in the bath ([Ca2+]b; dissociation constant K d = 0.51 μM at +30 mV) and membrane potential (voltage at half-maximal Po= 39.4 mV at 0.35 μM [Ca2+]b). The channel was blocked by gadolinium, tetraethylammonium, and charybdotoxin from the extracellular surface and, consequently, was identified as a Ca2+-activated K+(KCa) channel type. The channel was also reversibly activated by ATP applied to the intracellular surface ( K d = 0.74 mM at 0.10 μM [Ca2+]bat +30 mV). From these data taken together, we concluded that the channel is a new type of KCachannel that could be designated as an “SA KCa,ATP channel.” To our knowledge, this is the first report of KCa channel in heart cells.
Characterization of adenosine receptors in intact cultured heart cells
