Properties of sodium and potassium channels of the squid giant axon far below 0°C

1982 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumino Kukita
1970 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 583-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul De Weer

A study was made of sodium efflux from squid giant axon, and its sensitivity to external K and Na. When sodium efflux from untreated axons was strongly stimulated by Ko, Nao was inhibitory; when dependence on Ko was low, Nao had a stimulatory effect. Incipient CN poisoning or apyrase injection, which produces high intracellular levels of ADP1 and Pi, rendered sodium efflux less dependent on external K and more dependent on external Na. Injection of ADP, AMP, arginine, or creatine + creatine phosphokinase, all of which raise ADP levels without raising Pi levels, had the same effect as incipient CN poisoning. Pi injection had no effect on the K sensitivity of sodium efflux. Axons depleted of arginine and phosphoarginine by injection of arginase still lost their K sensitivity when the ATP:ADP ratio was lowered and regained it partially when the ratio was raised. Rough calculations show that sodium efflux is maximally Ko-dependent when the ATP:ADP ratio is about 10:1, becomes insensitive to Ko when the ratio is about 1:2, and is inhibited by Ko when the ratio is about 1:10. Deoxy-ATP mimicked ADP when injected into intact axons. Excess Mg, as well as Pi, inhibited both strophanthidin-sensitive and strophanthidin-insensitive sodium efflux. An outline is presented for a model which might explain the effects of ADP, Pi and deoxy-ATP.


1953 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Grundfest ◽  
Abraham M. Shanes ◽  
Walter Freygang

Decrease of the sodium concentration of the medium depresses both the spike and the associated impedance change in almost identical fashion. Elevation of the potassium level also depresses both phenomena, but affects the impedance change more than the spike; it slows the return to the initial impedance level. The effects on the threshold to brief square waves are also described. These results appear largely accounted for by the observations of Hodgkin and Huxley with the voltage clamp technique and by their recent hypothesis as to nature of the spike processes.


1959 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 793-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Shanes ◽  
W. H. Freygang ◽  
H. Grundfest ◽  
E. Amatniek

Changes in spike configuration and in the inward and outward currents of voltage-clamped axons agree in indicating that the increases in permeability to sodium and potassium ions during activity are depressed by procaine and cocaine and augmented by calcium. At low levels of depolarization, the effect of the multivalent ion is similar to that of the local anesthetics, in keeping with their similar effects on the threshold of excitability. The reduction of membrane conductance at rest requires a higher concentration of the drugs than that needed to affect the increase in permeability with activity.


Author(s):  
J. Metuzals

It has been demonstrated that the neurofibrillary tangles in biopsies of Alzheimer patients, composed of typical paired helical filaments (PHF), consist also of typical neurofilaments (NF) and 15nm wide filaments. Close structural relationships, and even continuity between NF and PHF, have been observed. In this paper, such relationships are investigated from the standpoint that the PHF are formed through posttranslational modifications of NF. To investigate the validity of the posttranslational modification hypothesis of PHF formation, we have identified in thin sections from frontal lobe biopsies of Alzheimer patients all existing conformations of NF and PHF and ordered these conformations in a hypothetical sequence. However, only experiments with animal model preparations will prove or disprove the validity of the interpretations of static structural observations made on patients. For this purpose, the results of in vitro experiments with the squid giant axon preparations are compared with those obtained from human patients. This approach is essential in discovering etiological factors of Alzheimer's disease and its early diagnosis.


1990 ◽  
Vol 1023 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey M. Fishman ◽  
Kirti P. Tewari ◽  
Philip G. Stein
Keyword(s):  

2004 ◽  
Vol 207 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-164
Author(s):  
Michael P. Conley ◽  
Marcus K. Jang ◽  
Joseph A. DeGiorgis ◽  
Elaine L. Bearer

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