scholarly journals Equilibrium and Kinetic Properties of the Interaction between Tetrodotoxin and the Excitable Membrane of the Squid Giant Axon

1970 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Andres Cuervo ◽  
William J. Adelman
Keyword(s):  
Dissociation Constant ◽  
Rate Constants ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Kinetic Properties ◽  
Bathing Solution ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
Partial Recovery ◽  
Reactive Site ◽  
Membrane Complex

Squid giant axons were treated with tetrodotoxin (TTX) in concentrations ranging from 1 nM to 25 nM and the resulting decrease in sodium current was followed in time using the voltage clamp technique. The removal of TTX from the bathing solution produced only partial recovery of the sodium current. This suggests that the over-all interaction is more complex than just a reversible reaction. By correcting for the partial irreversibility of the decrease in sodium current, a dissociation constant of 3.31 x 10-9 M was calculated for the reaction between TTX and the reactive site of the membrane. The data obtained fit a dose-response curve modified to incorporate the correction for partial irreversibility when calculated for a one-to-one stoichiometry. The fit disagreed with that calculated for a reaction between two molecules of TTX with a single membrane-reactive site, but neither supported nor disproved the possibility of a complex formed by two reactive sites with one molecule of TTX. Values of the rate constants for the formation and dissociation of the TTX-membrane complex, k1 and k2, respectively, were obtained from the kinetic data. The values are: k1 = 0.202 x 108 M-1, and k2 = 0.116 min-1. The magnitude of the dissociation constant derived from these values is 5.74 x 10-9 M, which has the same order of magnitude as that obtained from equilibrium measurements. Arrhenius plots of the rate constants gave values for the thermodynamic quantities of activation.

Sodium Currents in Neurons From the Rostroventrolateral Medulla of the Rat

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1635-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya A. Rybak ◽  
Krzysztof Ptak ◽  
Natalia A. Shevtsova ◽  
Donald R. McCrimmon
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Channels ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Cell Voltage ◽  
Kinetic Properties ◽  
Persistent Sodium Current ◽  
Sodium Currents ◽  
Bötzinger Complex ◽  
Window Current ◽  
Bursting Activity

Rapidly inactivating and persistent sodium currents have been characterized in acutely dissociated neurons from the area of rostroventrolateral medulla that included the pre-Bötzinger Complex. As demonstrated in many studies in vitro, this area can generate endogenous rhythmic bursting activity. Experiments were performed on neonate and young rats (P1-15). Neurons were investigated using the whole cell voltage-clamp technique. Standard activation and inactivation protocols were used to characterize the steady-state and kinetic properties of the rapidly inactivating sodium current. Slow depolarizing ramp protocols were used to characterize the noninactivating sodium current. The “window” component of the rapidly inactivating sodium current was calculated using mathematical modeling. The persistent sodium current was revealed by subtraction of the window current from the total noninactivating sodium current. Our results provide evidence of the presence of persistent sodium currents in neurons of the rat rostroventrolateral medulla and determine voltage-gated characteristics of activation and inactivation of rapidly inactivating and persistent sodium channels in these neurons.

scholarly journals The accessibility of protein-bound dinitrophenyl groups to univalent fragments of anti-dinitrophenyl antibody

1976 ◽  
Vol 159 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
C G Knight ◽  
N M Green
Keyword(s):  
Dissociation Constant ◽  
Rate Constants ◽  
Alkyl Chain ◽  
Dissociation Constants ◽  
Tryptophan Fluorescence ◽  
Thiol Group ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Thiol Compounds ◽  
Order Rate ◽  
Chain Lengths

A series of N-(N-dinitrophenylaminoalkyl)maleimides were sythesized with alkyl-chain lengths of two, four and six carbon atoms. When these compounds reacted with the thiol group of mercaptalbumin, the tryptophan fluorescence of the protein was quenched. This change in fluorescence was used to determine the rate of reaction of the Dnp (dinitrophenyl)-maleimides with mercaptalbumin. The second-order rate constants were similar to those observed in reactions between low-molecular-weight thiol compounds and maleimides. When N-(N-Dnp-aminoalkyl)succinimidomercaptalbumins were added to univalent fragments of anti-Dnp antibody the antibody fluorescence was quenched. Florescence-quenching titrations showed that the protein-bound Dnp groups were fully available to the antibody even when the alkyl chain was short. The apparent dissociation constants were significantly > that of the interaction between anti-Dnp antibody and the free hapten, 6-(N-Dnp)-aminohexanoate. The antibody fluorescence was quenched efficienty by [dnp-Lys41]ribonuclease A, also with an increased dissociation constant. It could be concluded from the increase in dissociation constant that the Dnp group spent no more than 0.1% of its time in the dissociated state, available to antibody. The second-order rate constants for the association between the Dnp-mercaptablumins and the antibody were determined and were similar in magnitude to those observed in other interactions between protein and anti-protein antibody.

scholarly journals Analysis of sodium current fluctuations in the cut-open squid giant axon.

1984 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Llano ◽  
F Bezanilla
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Channel ◽  
Sodium Channels ◽  
Sodium Current ◽  
Giant Axon ◽  
Squid Giant Axon ◽  
Statistical Techniques ◽  
Current Fluctuations ◽  
Small Populations ◽  
Squid Axon ◽  
Single Sodium Channel

Patch pipettes were used to record the current arising from small populations of sodium channels in voltage-clamped cut-open squid axons. The current fluctuations associated with the time-variant sodium conductance were analyzed with nonstationary statistical techniques in order to obtain an estimate for the conductance of a single sodium channel. The results presented support the notion that the open sodium channel in the squid axon has only one value of conductance, 3.5 pS.

Catalysis by α-cyclodextrin of the reaction of formic acid with bromine

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (11) ◽  
pp. 2119-2121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oswald S. Tee ◽  
Bushra Javed ◽  
Susan R. Mikkelsen
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Dissociation Constant ◽  
Rate Constants ◽  
Reaction Conditions ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Potentiometric Measurements

α-Cyclodextrin (CD) modestly increases the rate of oxidation of formic acid by bromine. The variation of rate constants with [Br−] is consistent with dominance of the formation of a CD•Br3− complex in determining the fraction of free Br2 and the CD•Br2 complex, under the reaction conditions. Potentiometric measurements support a dissociation constant of about 0.2 mM for the CD•Br3− complex, in agreement with an earlier spectrophotometric value. Analysis of the rate increases with [CD] implies that CD•Br2 is more reactive (~10 times) than free Br2 towards formate ion, as was found for phenols. These conclusions differ from those of another recent study. Keywords: catalysis, α-cyclodextrin, oxidation, formic acid, bromine.

scholarly journals Effect of heparin on the glia-derived-nexin-thrombin interaction

1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Wallace ◽  
G Rovelli ◽  
J Hofsteenge ◽  
S R Stone
Keyword(s):  
Rate Constants ◽  
Antithrombin Iii ◽  
Kinetic Properties ◽  
Association Rate ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Diffusion Controlled ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Human Thrombin ◽  
Alpha Beta ◽  
Association Rate Constants

In order to determine the specificity of the interaction between thrombin and glia-derived nexin (GdN), the inactivation of proteolytically modified human thrombin species by GdN has been studied. The second-order rate constants for the inactivation of alpha-, beta T-, gamma T- and epsilon-thrombin by GdN were 1.41, 0.63, 0.33 and 1.91 microM-1.s-1 respectively. The kinetic properties of gdN were also investigated in the presence of different types of heparin, fractionated according to antithrombin III-binding affinity. Association rate constants of both gdN and antithrombin III with alpha-thrombin were obtained using unfractionated, low- and high-affinity heparin types. The different heparin types gave optimal rates of inhibition at similar heparin concentrations for both inhibitors. At optimal heparin concentrations, the rate of inactivation of alpha-thrombin by GdN was 0.5-1.2 nM-1.s-1, which suggests that, under these conditions, the interaction is diffusion-controlled.

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