scholarly journals Resting and Action Potentials of the Squid Giant Axon in Vivo

1960 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 961-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Moore ◽  
Kenneth S. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Blood Oxygenation ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Liquid Junction ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Nernst Potential ◽  
Initial Action ◽  
Calculated Liquid

Blood oxygenation and circulation were maintained in Loligo pealii for several hours by a strong flow of sea water over both gills on the open, flat mantle. Potentials were measured with a 3 M KCl-filled glass microelectrode penetrating the giant axon membrane. An hour or more after the mantle was opened, the potentials were similar to those observed in excised axons and in preparations without circulation; spike height 100 mv.; undershoot 12 mv., decaying at 6 v./sec.; resting potential 63 mv. However, the earliest (20 minute) resting potentials were up to 70 mv. and 73 mv. Occasional initial action potential measurements (40 to 50 minute) showed a decay of the undershoot that was less than one-tenth the rate observed later. This suggests that in even better preparations there would be no decay, thereby increasing the resting potential and spike height by 12 mv. With the calculated liquid junction potential of 4 mv. the absolute resting potential in the "normal" axon in vivo is estimated to be about 77 mv., which is close to the Nernst potential for the potassium ratio between squid blood and axoplasm. The differences between such a normal axon and the usual isolated axon can be accounted for by a negligible leakage conductance in the normal axon.

Long-term Adaptations of Sabella Giant Axons to Hyposmotic Stress

1978 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
J. E. TREHERNE ◽  
Y. PICHON
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Potassium Concentration ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Sodium Permeability ◽  
Bathing Medium ◽  
Appreciable Change ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Giant Axons

Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr Treherne. Sabella is a euryhaline osmoconformer which is killed by direct transfer to 50% sea water, but can adapt to this salinity with progressive dilution of the sea water. The giant axons were adapted to progressive dilution of the bathing medium (both in vivo and in vitro) and were able to function at hyposmotic dilutions (down to 50%) sufficient to induce conduction block in unadapted axons. Hyposmotic adaptation of the giant axon involves a decrease in intracellular potassium concentration which tends to maintain a relatively constant resting potential during adaptation despite the reduction in external potassium concentration. There is no appreciable change in the intracellular sodium concentration, but the relative sodium permeability of the active membrane increases during hyposmotic adaptation. This increase partially compensates for the reduction in sodium gradient across the axon membrane, during dilution of the bathing media, by increasing the overshoot of the action potentials recorded in hyposmotically adapted axons.

scholarly journals Liquid Junction and Membrane Potentials of the Squid Giant Axon

1960 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 971-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Cole ◽  
John W. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Specific Resistance ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Squid Giant Axon ◽  
Liquid Junction ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Best Value ◽  
Liquid Junction Potentials

The potential differences across the squid giant axon membrane, as measured with a series of microcapillary electrodes filled with concentrations of KCl from 0.03 to 3.0 M or sea water, are consistent with a constant membrane potential and the liquid junction potentials calculated by the Henderson equation. The best value for the mobility of an organic univalent ion, such as isethionate, leads to a probably low, but not impossible, axoplasm specific resistance of 1.2 times sea water and to a liquid junction correction of 4 mv. for microelectrodes filled with 3 M KCl. The errors caused by the assumptions of proportional mixing, unity activity coefficients, and a negligible internal fixed charge cannot be estimated but the results suggest that the cumulative effect of them may not be serious.

scholarly journals Structural complexes in the squid giant axon membrane sensitive to ionic concentrations and cardiac glycosides

1976 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Villegas ◽  
J Villegas
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Glycosides ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Ionic Concentrations ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
High Calcium ◽  
Active Ion Transport

Giant nerve fibers of squid Sepioteuthis sepiodea were incubated for 10 min in artificial sea water (ASW) under control conditions, in the absence of various ions, and in the presence of cardiac glycosides. The nerve fibers were fixed in OsO(4) and embedded in Epon, and structural complexes along the axolemma were studied. These complexes consist of a portion of axolemma exhibiting a three-layered substructure, an undercoating of a dense material (approximately 0.1μm in length and approximately 70-170 A in thickness), and a narrowing to disappearance of the axon-Schwann cell interspace. In the controls, the incidence of complexes per 1,000μm of axon perimeter was about 137. This number decreased to 10-25 percent when magnesium was not present in the incubating media, whatever the calcium concentration (88, 44, or 0 mM). In the presence of magnesium, the number and structural features of the complexes were preserved, though the number decreased to 65 percent when high calcium was simultaneously present. The complexes were also modified and decreased to 26-32 percent by incubating the nerves in solutions having low concentrations of sodium and potassium. The adding of 10(-5) M ouabain or strophanthoside to normal ASW incubating solution decreased them to 20-40 percent. Due to their sensitivity to changes in external ionic concentrations and to the presence of cardiac glycosides, the complexes are proposed to represent the structural correlate of specialized sites for active ion transport, although other factors may be involved.

scholarly journals Effect of Temperature on the Potential and Current Thresholds of Axon Membrane

1962 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Guttman ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Threshold Current ◽  
Squid Giant Axon ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Threshold Potential ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Central Segment ◽  
The Mean

The effect of temperature on the potential and current thresholds of the squid giant axon membrane was measured with gross external electrodes. A central segment of the axon, 0.8 mm long and in sea water, was isolated by flowing low conductance, isoosmotic sucrose solution on each side; both ends were depolarized in isoosmotic KCl. Measured biphasic square wave currents at five cycles per second were applied between one end of the nerve and the membrane of the central segment. The membrane potential was recorded between the central sea water and the other depolarized end. The recorded potentials are developed only across the membrane impedance. Threshold current values ranged from 3.2 µa at 267deg;C to 1 µa at 7.5°C. Threshold potential values ranged from 50 mv at 26°C to 6 mv at 7.5°C. The mean Q10 of threshold current was 2.3 (SD = 0.2), while the Q10 for threshold potentials was 2.0 (SD = 0.1).

scholarly journals Membrane Potentials of the Lobster Giant Axon Obtained by Use of the Sucrose-Gap Technique

1962 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred J. Julian ◽  
John W. Moore ◽  
David E. Goldman
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Action Potential ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Sucrose Solution ◽  
Chloride Concentration ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Membrane Resistance ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Gap Technique ◽  
Sucrose Gap

A method similar to the sucrose-gap technique introduced be Stäpfli is described for measuring membrane potential and current in singly lobster giant axons (diameter about 100 micra). The isotonic sucrose solution used to perfuse the gaps raises the external leakage resistance so that the recorded potential is only about 5 per cent less than the actual membrane potential. However, the resting potential of an axon in the sucrose-gap arrangement is increased 20 to 60 mv over that recorded by a conventional micropipette electrode when the entire axon is bathed in sea water. A complete explanation for this effect has not been discovered. The relation between resting potential and external potassium and sodium ion concentrations shows that potassium carries most of the current in a depolarized axon in the sucrose-gap arrangement, but that near the resting potential other ions make significant contributions. Lowering the external chloride concentration decreases the resting potential. Varying the concentration of the sucrose solution has little effect. A study of the impedance changes associated with the action potential shows that the membrane resistance decreases to a minimum at the peak of the spike and returns to near its initial value before repolarization is complete (a normal lobster giant axon action potential does not have an undershoot). Action potentials recorded simultaneously by the sucrose-gap technique and by micropipette electrodes are practically superposable.

Mechanical and Electrical Responses of the Squid Giant Axon to Simple Elongation

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Galbraith ◽  
L. E. Thibault ◽  
D. R. Matteson
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Cell Model ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Squid Giant Axon ◽  
Nerve Tissue ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Nonlinear Load ◽  
Functional Changes

There is a limited amount of information available on the mechanical and functional response of the nervous system to loading. While deformation of cerebral, spinal, or peripheral nerve tissue can have particularly severe consequences, most research in this area has concentrated on either demonstrating in-vivo functional changes and disclosing the effected anatomical pathways, or describing material deformations of the composite structure. Although such studies have successfully produced repeatable traumas, they have not addressed the mechanisms of these mechanically induced injuries. Therefore, a single cell model is required in order to gain further understanding of this complex phenomena. An isolated squid giant axon was subjected to controlled uniaxial loading and its mechanical and physiological responses were monitored with an instrument specifically designed for these experiments. These results determined that the mechanical properties of the isolated axon are similar to those of other soft tissues, and include features such as a nonlinear load-deflection curve and a hysteresis loop upon unloading. The mechanical response was modeled with the quasi-linear viscoelastic theory (Fung, 1972). The physiological response of the axon to quasi-static loading was a small reversible hyperpolarization; however, as the rate of loading was increased, the axon depolarized and the magnitude and the time needed to recover to the original resting potential increased in a nonlinear fashion. At elongations greater than twenty percent an irreversible injury occurs and the membrane potential does not completely recover to baseline.

scholarly journals Nonlinear cable properties of the giant axon of the cockroach Periplaneta americana.

1985 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Segev ◽  
I Parnas
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Periplaneta Americana ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Input Resistance ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Nonlinear Properties ◽  
Cable Properties ◽  
The Difference

The steady state nonlinear properties of the giant axon membrane of the cockroach Periplaneta americana were studied by means of intracellular electrodes. The resistivity of this membrane markedly decreases in response to small subthreshold depolarizations. The specific slope resistance is reduced by twofold at 5 mV depolarization and by a factor of 14 at 20 mV depolarization. As a result, the spatial decay, V(X), of depolarizing potentials is enhanced when compared with the passive (exponential) decay. This enhancement is maximal at a distance of 1-1.5 mm from a point of subthreshold (0-20 mV) depolarizing perturbation. At that distance, the difference between the actual potential and the potential expected in the passive axon is approximately 30%. The effects of membrane rectification on V(X) were analyzed quantitatively with a novel derivation based on Cole's theorem, which enables one to calculate V(X) directly from the input current-voltage (I0-V) relation of a long axon. It is shown that when the experimental I0-V curve is replotted as (I0Rin)-1 against V (where Rin is the input resistance at the resting potential), the integral between any two potentials (V1 greater than V2) on this curve is the distance, in units of the resting space constant, over which V1 attenuates to V2. Excellent agreement was found between the experimental V(X) and the predicted value based solely on the input I0-V relation. The results demonstrate that the rectifying properties of the giant axon membrane must be taken into account when the electrotonic spread of even small subthreshold potentials is studied, and that, in the steady state, this behavior can be extracted from measurements at a single point. The effect of rectification on synaptic efficacy is also discussed.

scholarly journals Action of External Divalent Ion Reduction on Sodium Movement in the Squid Giant Axon

1961 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Adelman ◽  
John W. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
Squid Giant Axon ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Slow Increase ◽  
Sodium Permeability ◽  
Sodium Accumulation ◽  
Sodium Flux

Voltage clamp measurements of the sodium potential have been made on the resting squid giant axon to study the effect of variations in external divalent ion concentration upon net sodium flux. From these measurements the intracellular sodium concentration and the net sodium inflow were calculated using the Nernst relation and constant activity coefficients. While an axon bathed in artificial sea water shows a slow increase in internal sodium concentration, the rate of sodium accumulation is increased about two times by reducing external calcium and magnesium concentrations to 0.1 times their normal values. The mean inward net sodium flux increases from a mean control value of 97 pmole/cm2 sec. to 186 pmole/cm2 sec. in low divalent solution. Associated with these effects of external divalent ion reduction are a marked decrease in action potential amplitude, little or no change in resting potential, and a shift along the voltage axis of the curve relating peak sodium conductance to membrane potential similar to that obtained by Frankenhaeuser and Hodgkin (1957). These results implicate divalent ions in long term (minutes to hours) sodium permeability.

scholarly journals Axonal Adaptations to Osmotic and Ionic Stress in an Invertebrate Osmoconformer (Mercierella Enigmatica Fauvel): I. Ultrastructural and Electrophysiological Observations on Axonal Accessibility

1978 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-204
Author(s):  
H. LE B. SKAER ◽  
J. E. TREHERNE ◽  
J. A. BENSON
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Initial Exposure ◽  
Axon Membrane ◽  
Ionic Lanthanum ◽  
Ionic Stress ◽  
Hyposmotic Stress ◽  
Intercellular Clefts ◽  
Junctional Complexes ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

The giant axons in Mercierella are overlaid by narrow glial processes which provide an incomplete covering of the axonal surface. Where more complete covering occurs the intercellular clefts are not sealed by tight junctional complexes. Ionic lanthanum penetrates to the surfaces of axons from sea-water-adapted animals (in normal saline and during initial exposure to hyposmotic saline) and, also, to the surface of hyposmotically adapted axons. A relatively free intercellular access to the axon surfaces is also indicated by the rapid electrical responses of sea-water-adapted axons to hyposmotic dilution and of hyposmotically adapted axons to sodium-deficient saline. The giant axon possesses an unusual ultrastructural specialization: hemidesmosome-like structures (associated with the axon membrane) which are connected to a network of neuronlaments within the axon. Theoretical considerations suggest that these structures could enable the axons to withstand appreciable excesses in intracellular hydrostatic pressure resulting from osmotic imbalance during hyposmotic stress. Note: The Editor reports, with deep regret, the apparent passing of Mercierella enigmatica which it is now proposed becomes Ficopotamus enigmaticus (Fauvel) (ten Hove & Weerdenburg, 1978, Biol. Bull. 154, 96–120).

scholarly journals Voltage Clamp Studies on the Effect of Internal Cesium Ion on Sodium and Potassium Currents in the Squid Giant Axon

1966 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Adelman ◽  
Joseph P. Senft
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Severe Depression ◽  
Outward Current ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Resting Potential ◽  
Negative Slope ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Sodium Currents ◽  
Cesium Ion

Isolated and cleaned giant axons of Loligo pealii were internally perfused with solutions containing cesium sulfate and potassium fluoride. Membrane currents obtained as a function of clamped membrane potentials indicated a severe depression of the delayed outward current component normally attributed to potassium ion movement. Steady-state currents showed a negative slope in the potential range from -45 to -5 mv which corresponded to the negative slope for the peak sodium current relation vs. membrane potential which suggested long duration sodium currents. Using sodium-free sea water externally, sodium currents were separated from total currents and these persisted for longer times than normal. This result suggested that internal cesium, ion delays the sodium conductance turnoff. The separated nonsodium currents showed an abnormal rectification as compared with those predicted by the independence principle, such that while potassium permeability appeared normal at the resting potential, its value decreased progressively with increasing depolarization.

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