Properties of single Na+ channels in cut-open Myxicola giant axons

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Schauf

Time- and voltage-dependent behavior of the Na+ conductance in dialyzed intact Myxicola axons was compared with cut-open axons subjected to loose-patch clamp of the interior and to axons where Gigaseals were formed after brief enzyme digestion. Voltage and time dependence of activation, inactivation, and reactivation were identical in whole-axons and loose-patch preparations. Single channels observed in patch-clamp axons had a conductance of 18.3 ± 2.3 pS and a mean open time of 0.84 ± 0.12 ms. The time-dependence of Na+ currents found by averaging patch-clamp records was similar to intact axons, as was the voltage dependence of activation. Steady-state inactivation in patch-clamped axons was shifted by an average of 15 mV from that seen in loose-patch or intact axons. Substitution of D2O for H2O decreased single channel conductance by 24 ± 6% in patch-clamped axons compared with 28 ± 4% in intact axons, slowed inactivation by 58 ± 8% compared with 49 ± 6%, and increased mean open time by 52 ± 7%. The results confirm observations on macroscopic channel behavior in Myxicola and resemble that seen in other excitable tissues.

1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 1380-1391 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. McFarlane ◽  
E. Cooper

1. We have characterized three voltage-gated potassium currents on neonatal rat nodose neurons: a rapidly inactivating current (IAf), a slowly inactivating current (IAs), and a noninactivating current (IK). 2. Most neurons expressed all three currents. However, we found that a significant number of neurons had only one of the two A-currents. 3. IAf activates rapidly (tau = 1.0-1.5 ms at -10 mV) and inactivates in 10-30 ms. The activation and steady-state inactivation curves were fit with Boltzmann distributions of V' = -21, k = 12 mV and V' = -73, k = -8 mV, respectively. 4. IAs activates more slowly than IAf (tau = 5.4-9.2 ms at -10 mV) and inactivates with two components (150-300 ms; 1-3 s). The activation and inactivation curves are shifted approximately 20 mV more positive than those of IAf, with Boltzmann coefficients of V' = -2, k = 14 mV and V' = -51, k = -14 mV, respectively. 5. Of the three, IK activates most slowly (tau = 29.4-38.3 ms at -10 mV) and at more positive potentials than IAf or IAs (V' = 16, k = 12 mV). IK does not inactivate over tens of seconds. 6. In addition, we have identified the single channels that underlie IAf and IAs. These two channels, Af and As, have the same single-channel conductance, 22 pS, but different inactivation kinetics. 7. Furthermore, we show that there is an inverse relationship between the appearance of A-currents (IAf and IAs) and the appearance of IK, suggesting that these neurons coordinate the expression of these currents in their membranes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
M E O'Leary ◽  
L Q Chen ◽  
R G Kallen ◽  
R Horn

A pair of tyrosine residues, located on the cytoplasmic linker between the third and fourth domains of human heart sodium channels, plays a critical role in the kinetics and voltage dependence of inactivation. Substitution of these residues by glutamine (Y1494Y1495/QQ), but not phenylalanine, nearly eliminates the voltage dependence of the inactivation time constant measured from the decay of macroscopic current after a depolarization. The voltage dependence of steady state inactivation and recovery from inactivation is also decreased in YY/QQ channels. A characteristic feature of the coupling between activation and inactivation in sodium channels is a delay in development of inactivation after a depolarization. Such a delay is seen in wild-type but is abbreviated in YY/QQ channels at -30 mV. The macroscopic kinetics of activation are faster and less voltage dependent in the mutant at voltages more negative than -20 mV. Deactivation kinetics, by contrast, are not significantly different between mutant and wild-type channels at voltages more negative than -70 mV. Single-channel measurements show that the latencies for a channel to open after a depolarization are shorter and less voltage dependent in YY/QQ than in wild-type channels; however the peak open probability is not significantly affected in YY/QQ channels. These data demonstrate that rate constants involved in both activation and inactivation are altered in YY/QQ channels. These tyrosines are required for a normal coupling between activation voltage sensors and the inactivation gate. This coupling insures that the macroscopic inactivation rate is slow at negative voltages and accelerated at more positive voltages. Disruption of the coupling in YY/QQ alters the microscopic rates of both activation and inactivation.


1984 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Yamamoto ◽  
J Z Yeh

The kinetics of 9-aminoacridine (9-AA) block of single Na channels in neuroblastoma N1E-115 cells were studied using the gigohm seal, patch clamp technique, under the condition in which the Na current inactivation had been eliminated by treatment with N-bromoacetamide (NBA). Following NBA treatment, the current flowing through individual Na channels was manifested by square-wave open events lasting from several to tens of milliseconds. When 9-AA was applied to the cytoplasmic face of Na channels at concentrations ranging from 30 to 100 microM, it caused repetitive rapid transitions (flickering) between open and blocked states within single openings of Na channels, without affecting the amplitude of the single channel current. The histograms for the duration of blocked states and the histograms for the duration of open states could be fitted with a single-exponential function. The mean open time (tau o) became shorter as the drug concentration was increased, while the mean blocked time (tau b) was concentration independent. The association (blocking) rate constant, kappa, calculated from the slope of the curve relating the reciprocal mean open time to 9-AA concentration, showed little voltage dependence, the rate constant being on the order of 1 X 10(7) M-1s-1. The dissociation (unblocking) rate constant, l, calculated from the mean blocked time, was strongly voltage dependent, the mean rate constant being 214 s-1 at 0 mV and becoming larger as the membrane being hyperpolarized. The voltage dependence suggests that a first-order blocking site is located at least 63% of the way through the membrane field from the cytoplasmic surface. The equilibrium dissociation constant for 9-AA to block the Na channel, defined by the relation of l/kappa, was calculated to be 21 microM at 0 mV. Both tau -1o and tau -1b had a Q10 of 1.3, which suggests that binding reaction was diffusion controlled. The burst time in the presence of 9-AA, which is the sum of open times and blocked times, was longer than the lifetime of open channels in the absence of drug. All of the features of 9-AA block of single Na channels are compatible with the sequential model in which 9-AA molecules block open Na channels, and the blocked channels could not close until 9-AA molecules had left the blocking site in the channels.


1986 ◽  
Vol 250 (3) ◽  
pp. C361-C364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Oosawa ◽  
M. Sokabe

Single-channel conductance of the K+ channel from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) was reduced by aminoglycoside antibiotics such as neomycin and ribostamycin and also by n-hexylamine from either side of the membrane in a dose- and voltage-dependent manner. K+ channels were incorporated into an artificial phospholipid bilayer. This inhibition follows a single-site titration curve. The voltage dependence of the inhibition is explained by assuming that these drugs bind to the open state of a single channel on one site located approximately 40% of the way through the membrane from the cis side (the side to which SR vesicles are added) when drugs are added to the cis side and bind on another site located approximately 40% of the way through the membrane from the trans side (the opposite side to the cis side) when drugs are added to the trans side.


1984 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 535-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
C A Vandenberg ◽  
R Horn

Recordings of the sodium current in tissue-cultured GH3 cells show that the rate of inactivation in whole cell and averaged single channel records is voltage dependent: tau h varied e-fold/approximately 26 mV. The source of this voltage dependence was investigated by examining the voltage dependence of individual rate constants, estimated by maximum likelihood analysis of single channel records, in a five-state kinetic model. The rate constant for inactivating from the open state, rather than closing, increased with depolarization, as did the probability that an open channel inactivates. The rate constant for closing from the open state had the opposite voltage dependence. Both rate constants contributed to the mean open time, which was not very voltage dependent. Both open time and burst duration were less than tau h for voltages up to -20 mV. The slowest time constant of activation, tau m, was measured from whole cell records, by fitting a single exponential either to tail currents or to activating currents in trypsin-treated cells, in which the inactivation was abolished. tau m was a bell-shaped function of voltage and had a voltage dependence similar to tau h at voltages more positive than -35 mV, but was smaller than tau h. At potentials more negative than about -10 mV, individual channels may open and close several times before inactivating. Therefore, averaged single channel records, which correspond with macroscopic current elicited by a depolarization, are best described by a convolution of the first latency density with the autocorrelation function rather than with 1 - (channel open time distribution). The voltage dependence of inactivation from the open state, in addition to that of the activation process, is a significant factor in determining the voltage dependence of macroscopic inactivation. Although the rates of activation and inactivation overlapped greatly, independent and coupled inactivation could not be statistically distinguished for two models examined. Although rates of activation affect the observed rate of inactivation at intermediate voltages, extrapolation of our estimates of rate constants suggests that at very depolarized voltages the activation process is so fast that it is an insignificant factor in the time course of inactivation. Prediction of gating currents shows that an inherently voltage-dependent inactivation process need not produce a conspicuous component in the gating current.


1988 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 645-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Mayer ◽  
G. L. Westbrook ◽  
L. Vyklicky

1. Mouse hippocampal neurons in dissociated culture were grown at low density on previously plated hippocampal glial cell cultures and voltage clamped using the tight seal whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Flow pipes were used to rapidly exchange the extracellular solution, and to apply N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) and some NMDA antagonists. Fluctuation analysis was used to estimate changes in the behavior of NMDA-activated ion channels during application of antagonists. In the presence of NMDA control spectra were well fit by single Lorentzian functions consistent with mean open times of 5-6 ms. 2. Two antagonists thought to act at the NMDA receptor agonist recognition site, 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5) and kynurenic acid, did not produce changes in the mean open time or single channel conductance, consistent with their action as competitive antagonists. Onset of antagonism and recovery from the action of both AP5 and kynurenic acid was rapid and complete within 1 s. However, raising the extra-cellular glycine concentration, from 1 microM to 1 mM, reduced the potency of 100 microM kynurenic acid as an NMDA antagonist, suggesting that kynurenate has an additional action as a competitive antagonist at the glycine modulatory site on NMDA receptor channels. 3. In the presence of 150 microM magnesium NMDA spectra recorded at -60 mV were fit by double Lorentzian functions, consistent with single-channel events consisting of bursts of openings lasting 3.3 ms in duration, interrupted by blocking and unblocking events of average duration 0.18 ms. The onset and recovery from magnesium antagonism was rapid, and complete within 1 s, but was highly voltage dependent and at +40 mV magnesium (150 microM) failed to produce NMDA antagonism. These results are consistent with a voltage-dependent channel block of NMDA receptor channels produced by binding of magnesium to a site within the ion channel. 4. Zinc (30 microM) was a potent NMDA antagonist at both -60 and +40 mV, and at either potential appeared to reduce the mean open time of NMDA-activated ion channels from about 5 ms to approximately 3 ms. Over the frequency range measured, 1-1,000 Hz, NMDA spectra were well fit by single Lorentzians during zinc antagonism, in contrast to results obtained with magnesium. The mean single channel conductance also decreased in the presence of zinc to approximately 75% of control. Onset of antagonism and recovery from the action of zinc was rapid and complete within 1 s.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1996 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
L G Palmer ◽  
G Frindt

The gating kinetics of apical membrane Na channels in the rat cortical collecting tubule were assessed in cell-attached and inside-out excised patches from split-open tubules using the patch-clamp technique. In patches containing a single channel the open probability (Po) was variable, ranging from 0.05 to 0.9. The average Po was 0.5. However, the individual values were not distributed normally, but were mainly < or = 0.25 or > or = 0.75. Mean open times and mean closed times were correlated directly and inversely, respectively, with Po. In patches where a sufficient number of events could be recorded, two time constants were required to describe the open-time and closed-time distributions. In most patches in which basal Po was < 0.3 the channels could be activated by hyperpolarization of the apical membrane. In five such patches containing a single channel hyperpolarization by 40 mV increased Po by 10-fold, from 0.055 +/- 0.023 to 0.58 +/- 0.07. This change reflected an increase in the mean open time of the channels from 52 +/- 17 to 494 +/- 175 ms and a decrease in the mean closed time from 1,940 +/- 350 to 336 +/- 100 ms. These responses, however, could not be described by a simple voltage dependence of the opening and closing rates. In many cases significant delays in both the activation by hyperpolarization and deactivation by depolarization were observed. These delays ranged from several seconds to several tens of seconds. Similar effects of voltage were seen in cell-attached and excised patches, arguing against a voltage-dependent chemical modification of the channel, such as a phosphorylation. Rather, the channels appeared to switch between gating modes. These switches could be spontaneous but were strongly influenced by changes in membrane voltage. Voltage dependence of channel gating was also observed under whole-cell clamp conditions. To see if mechanical perturbations could also influence channel kinetics or gating mode, negative pressures of 10-60 mm Hg were applied to the patch pipette. In most cases (15 out of 22), this maneuver had no significant effect on channel behavior. In 6 out of 22 patches, however, there was a rapid and reversible increase in Po when the pressure was applied. In one patch, there was a reversible decrease. While no consistent effects of pressure could be documented, membrane deformation could contribute to the variation in Po under some conditions.


1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Bezprozvanny ◽  
S Bezprozvannaya ◽  
B E Ehrlich

Effects of the xanthine drug caffeine on inositol (1,4,5)-trisphosphate (InsP3)-gated calcium (Ca) channels from canine cerebellum were studied using single channels incorporated into planar lipid bilayers. Caffeine, used widely as an agonist of ryanodine receptors, inhibited the activity of InsP3-gated Ca channels in a noncooperative fashion with half-inhibition at 1.64 mM caffeine. The frequency of channel openings was decreased more than threefold after addition of 5 mM caffeine; there was only a small effect on mean open time of the channels, and the single channel conductance was unchanged. Increased InsP3 concentration overcame the inhibitory action of caffeine, but caffeine did not reduce specific [3H]InsP3 binding to the receptor. The inhibitory action of caffeine on InsP3 receptors suggests that the action of caffeine on the intracellular Ca pool must be interpreted with caution when both ryanodine receptors and InsP3 receptors are present in the cell.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (2) ◽  
pp. H470-H478 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Quayle ◽  
J. G. McCarron ◽  
J. R. Asbury ◽  
M. T. Nelson

Unitary currents through single calcium channels were measured from cell-attached patches on smooth muscle cells isolated from resistance-sized branches of posterior cerebral arteries from Wistar-Kyoto normotensive rats. Barium (80 and 10 mM) was used as the charge carrier, with and without the dihydropyridine calcium channel agonist BAY R 5417. Unitary currents decreased on membrane depolarization, with a slope conductance of 19.4 pS (80 mM barium). Channel open-state probability (Po) was steeply voltage dependent. Peak Po during test pulses from -70 mV increased e-fold per 4.5-mV depolarization. Mean peak Po at potentials positive to +10 mV was 0.44. Po at steady membrane potentials was also steeply voltage dependent, changing e-fold per 4.5 mV in the absence of inactivation. Steady-state Po at positive potentials was substantially lower than peak Po elicited by test pulses, suggesting that steady-state inactivation can reduce Po by as much as 10-fold. Membrane depolarization decreased the longest mean closed time but had little effect on the mean open time of single calcium channels measured during steady-state recordings. Lowering the external barium concentration from 80 to 10 mM reduced the single channel conductance to 12.4 pS and shifted the relationship between steady-state Po and membrane potential by about -30 mV. BAY R 5417 also shifted this relationship by about -15 mV.


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