scholarly journals Binding of tetrodotoxin to squid nerve fibers. Two kinds of receptors?

1976 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Sevcik

The effect of tetrodotoxin on the sodium currents of the squid (Doryteuthis plei and Sepioteuthis sepiodea) giant axons was studied under potential control conditions. The axons were immersed in artificial seawater at 21 degrees C and pH 7.5. When the effect of the toxin is studied in concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 50 nM the Eadie-Haldane plot is not a straight line and indicates that there are two populations of sodium channels open during activity. 19.0 +/- 4.7% of the channels are accociated to receptors with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.11 +/- 0.05 nM and 84.0 +/- 4.1% of the channels are related to receptors having an affinity constant of 4.90 +/- 0.49 nM (nine nerves).

1968 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertil Hille

Voltage clamp measurements on myelinated nerve fibers show that tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin, and DDT specifically affect the sodium channels of the membrane. Tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin render the sodium channels impermeable to Na ions and to Li ions and probably prevent the opening of individual sodium channels when one toxin molecule binds to a channel. The apparent dissociation constant of the inhibitory complex is about 1 nM for the cationic forms of both toxins. The zwitter ionic forms are much less potent. On the other hand, DDT causes a fraction of the sodium channels that open during a depolarization to remain open for a longer time than is normal. The effect cannot be described as a specific change in sodium inactivation or as a specific change in sodium activation, for both processes continue to govern the opening of the sodium channels and neither process is able to close the channels. The effects of DDT are very similar to those of veratrine.


1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
M I Behrens ◽  
A Oberhauser ◽  
F Bezanilla ◽  
R Latorre

Squid optic nerve sodium channels were characterized in planar bilayers in the presence of batrachotoxin (BTX). The channel exhibits a conductance of 20 pS in symmetrical 200 mM NaCl and behaves as a sodium electrode. The single-channel conductance saturates with increasing the concentration of sodium and the channel conductance vs. sodium concentration relation is well described by a simple rectangular hyperbola. The apparent dissociation constant of the channel for sodium is 11 mM and the maximal conductance is 23 pS. The selectivity determined from reversal potentials obtained in mixed ionic conditions is Na+ approximately Li+ greater than K+ greater than Rb+ greater than Cs+. Calcium blocks the channel in a voltage-dependent manner. Analysis of single-channel membranes showed that the probability of being open (Po) vs. voltage relation is sigmoidal with a value of 0.5 between -90 and -100 mV. The fitting of Po requires at least two closed and one open state. The apparent gating charge required to move through the whole transmembrane voltage during the closed-open transition is four to five electronic charges per channel. Distribution of open and closed times are well described by single exponentials in most of the voltage range tested and mean open and mean closed times are voltage dependent. The number of charges associated with channel closing is 1.6 electronic charges per channel. Tetrodotoxin blocked the BTX-modified channel being the blockade favored by negative voltages. The apparent dissociation constant at zero potential is 16 nM. We concluded that sodium channels from the squid optic nerve are similar to other BTX-modified channels reconstituted in bilayers and to the BTX-modified sodium channel detected in the squid giant axon.


1973 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary R. Strichartz

The inhibition of sodium currents by quaternary derivatives of lidocaine was studied in single myelinated nerve fibers. Membrane currents were diminished little by external quaternary lidocaine (QX). QX present in the axoplasm (<0.5 mM) inhibited sodium currents by more than 90%. Inhibition occurred as the sum of a constant, tonic phase and a variable, voltage-sensitive phase. The voltage-sensitive inhibition was favored by the application of membrane potential patterns which produce large depolarizations when sodium channels are open. Voltage-sensitive inhibition could be reversed by small depolarizations which opened sodium channels. One explanation of this observation is that QX molecules enter open sodium channels from the axoplasmic side and bind within the channels. The voltage dependence of the inhibition by QX suggests that the drug binds at a site which is about halfway down the electrical gradient from inside to outside of the sodium channel.


2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1635-1642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilya A. Rybak ◽  
Krzysztof Ptak ◽  
Natalia A. Shevtsova ◽  
Donald R. McCrimmon

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.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. C29-C35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Manfredi ◽  
R. Marquetant ◽  
A. D. Magid ◽  
E. W. Holmes

The muscle isozyme of adenylosuccinate synthetase (AdSS), an enzyme of the purine nucleotide cycle, has previously been shown to bind to purified F-actin in buffers of low ionic strength and pH (Ogawa et al. Eur. J. Biochem. 85: 331-338, 1978). We have extended these observations by measuring the association of both crude and purified AdSS with the contractile proteins of muscle in buffers of physiological ionic strength and pH. Under these conditions, the enzyme binds to F-actin, actin-tropomyosin complexes, reconstructed thin filaments, and myofibrils but not to myosin. The apparent dissociation constant of 1.2 microM and binding maximum of 2.6 nmol enzyme/mg myofibrils indicate that binding of AdSS to myofibrils can be physiologically significant. The results suggest that AdSS in muscle may be associated with the thin filament of myofibrils.


1950 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. LEVENBOOK

1. The pH of the blood of the third instar Gastrophilus larva is 6.64 at 38° C. with a pH-temperature coefficient of -0.007 Per 1° C. rise in temperature. 2. The total CO2 content of the blood varies from 40.6 to 131.4 vol. % with an average of 72.4 vol. %. The CO2 content of the tissues minus the cuticle is very close to, and follows the variations in, the CO2 content of the blood. 3. The CO2 tension in the blood is from 300 to 500 mm. Hg. From 30 to 50% of the CO2 is in solution, the rest in the form of bicarbonate. Carbamate formation does not occur in the blood. 4. The ‘apparent’ dissociation constant for carbonic acid, (pK'1), has a value of 6.08 (S.D. ±0.06) at 38° C. and 6.19 (s.d. ±0.13) at 16° C. 5. CO2 dissociation curves have been drawn for 38 and 16° C. The slope of the curves indicates that the whole of the CO2 is given off at zero CO2 tension, and that the blood is adapted for functioning at high CO2 tensions.


2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 1681-1691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Kilb ◽  
Heiko J. Luhmann

Cajal-Retzius cells are among the first neurons appearing during corticogenesis and play an important role in the establishment of cortical lamination. To characterize the hyperpolarization-activated inward current ( I h) and to investigate whether I h contributes to the relatively positive resting membrane potential (RMP) of these cells, we analyzed the properties of I h in visually identified Cajal-Retzius cells in cortical slices from neonatal rats using the whole cell patch-clamp technique. Membrane hyperpolarization to −90 mV activated a prominent inward current that was inhibited by 1 mM Cs+ and was insensitive to 1 mM Ba2+. The activation time constant for I h was strongly voltage dependent. In Na+-free solution, I h was reduced, indicating a contribution of Na+. An analysis of the tail currents revealed a reversal potential of −45.2 mV, corresponding to a permeability coefficient (pNa+/pK+) of 0.13. While an increase in the extracellular K+ concentration ([K+]e) enhances I h, it was reduced by a [K+]e decrease. This [K+]e dependence could not be explained by an effect on the electromotive force on K+ but suggested an additional extracellular binding site for K+ with an apparent dissociation constant of 7.2 mM. Complete Cl−substitution by Br−, I−, or NO3 − had no significant effect on I h, whereas a complete Cl−substitution by the organic compounds methylsulfate, isethionate, or gluconate reduced I h by ∼40%. The I h reduction observed in gluconate could be abolished by the addition of Cl−. The analysis of the [Cl−]e dependence of I h revealed a dissociation constant of 9.8 mM and a Hill-coefficient of 2.5, while the assumption of a gluconate-dependent I h reduction required an unreasonably high Hill-coefficient >20. An internal perfusion with the lidocaine derivative lidocaine N-ethyl bromide blocks I h within 1 min after establishment of the whole cell configuration. An inhibition of I h by 1 mM Cs+ was without an effect on RMP, action potential amplitude, threshold, width, or afterhyperpolarization. We conclude from these results that Cajal-Retzius cells express a prominent I hwith characteristic properties that does not contribute to the RMP.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (5) ◽  
pp. C1113-C1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Putnam ◽  
A. Roos

The apparent first dissociation constant of carbonic acid has been defined in different ways in the literature. Harned and co-workers (8-10) have defined it in terms of molalities of the participating species, including H ions: Ks = mHmHCO3/mCO2. In contrast, Hastings and Sendroy have defined an apparent constant in which acidity is expressed as H ion activity: K'1 = aHmHCO3/mCO2. These constants differ by a factor gamma H, the activity coefficient of H ions at the prevailing ionic strength. Therefore, pK'1 is greater than pKs by an amount equal to -log gamma H, which, at mu = 0.16 M, is approximately 0.1. It is important that the correct value for the apparent dissociation constant or its logarithmic form be entered in the mass action expression or in the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation in order to prevent significant errors in the computation by means of these equations of quantities that cannot be directly measured. Specifically, for the derivation of bicarbonate concentration from PCO2 and pH (-log aH), pK'1 is to be used and not an uncorrected pKs.


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