scholarly journals A comparison of calcium-activated potassium channel currents in cell-attached and excised patches.

1987 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 985-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
B S Pallotta ◽  
J R Hepler ◽  
S A Oglesby ◽  
T K Harden

Single channel currents from Ca-activated K channels were recorded from cell-attached patches, which were then excised from 1321N1 human astrocytoma cells. Cells were depolarized with K (110 mM) so that the membrane potential was known in both patch configurations, and the Ca ionophore A23187 or ionomycin (20-100 microM) was used to equilibrate intracellular and extracellular [Ca] (0.3 or 1 microM). Measurements of intracellular [Ca] with the fluorescent Ca indicator quin2 verified that [Ca] equilibration apparently occurred in our experiments. Under these conditions, where both membrane potential and intracellular [Ca] were known, we found that the dependence of the channel percent open time on membrane potential and [Ca] was similar in both the cell-attached and excised patch configuration for several minutes after excision. Current-voltage relations were also similar, and autocorrelation functions constructed from the single channel currents revealed no obvious change in channel gating upon patch excision. These findings suggest that the results of studies that use excised membrane patches can be extrapolated to the K-depolarized cell-attached configuration, and that the relation between [Ca] and channel activity can be used to obtain a quantitative measure of [Ca] near the membrane intracellular surface.

1989 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
G E Kirsch ◽  
A M Brown

Single Na channel currents were compared in ventricular myocytes and cortical neurons of neonatal rats using the gigaseal patch-clamp method to determine whether tissue-specific differences in gating can be detected at the single-channel level. Single-channel currents were recorded in cell-attached and excised membrane patches at test potentials of -70 to -20 mV and at 9-11 degrees C. In both cell-attached and excised patches brain Na channel mean open time progressively increased from less than 1 ms at -70 mV to approximately 2 ms at -20 mV. Near threshold, single openings with dispersed latencies were observed. By contrast, in cell-attached patches, heart Na channel mean open time peaked near -50 mV, was three times brain Na channel mean open time, and declined continuously to approximately 2 ms at -20 mV. Near threshold, openings occurred frequently usually as brief bursts lasting several milliseconds and rarely as prolonged bursts lasting tens of milliseconds. Unlike what occurs in brain tissue where excision did not change gating, in excised heart patches both the frequency of prolonged bursting and the mean open time of single units increased markedly. Brain and cardiac Na channels can therefore be distinguished on the basis of their mean open times and bursting characteristics.


1992 ◽  
Vol 263 (6) ◽  
pp. C1200-C1207 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Banderali ◽  
G. Roy

Large losses of amino acids by diffusion were previously observed in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells during volume regulation. Also, an outward rectifying anion channel was activated. Because this channel was not selective among anions, it was suggested that it could be permeable to amino acids. Its permeability to aspartate, glutamate, and taurine was studied using the patch-clamp technique in the inside-out configuration. Solutions containing 500 mM aspartate or glutamate were used on the cytoplasmic side of excised patches to detect single-channel currents carried by these anions. Permeability ratios were estimated in two different ways: 1) from the shift in reversal potential of current-voltage curves after anion replacement in the bath solution and 2) from comparisons of amplitudes of single-channel currents carried by tested anions and chloride, respectively. The values of aspartate-to-chloride and glutamate-to-chloride permeability ratios obtained with both methods were quite consistent and were of the order of 0.2 for both amino acids. Taurine in solutions at physiological pH 7.3 is a zwitterionic molecule and bears no net charge. To detect single-channel currents carried by taurine, solutions containing 500 mM taurine at pH 8.2 were used in inside-out experiments. Under these conditions 120 mM of negatively charged taurine was present in the solutions bathing the cytoplasmic side of excised patches. The permeability ratio estimated from the shift in reversal potential was 0.75. These results showed that some of the organic compounds released by cells during regulatory volume decrease could diffuse through this outwardly rectifying anionic channel.


1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart A. Lipton

Abstractγ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) evokes large whole-cell currents in solitary mammalian retinal ganglion cells studied by the patch-clamp method. This evidence suggests that GABA acts directly on the retinal ganglion cells as an inhibitory transmitter as it does elsewhere in the mammalian central nervous system. Here, single-channel recordings of the currents underlying the GABA-induced responses were studied in outside-out patches of cell membrane. In some other preparations, single GABAA channels recorded in the excised patch configuration have been shown to have altered properties in comparison to responses elicited during whole-cell recording. For example, in cortical neurons single GABA-activated channels in excised patches display accelerated desensitization kinetics as well as rapid rundown of the response. Therefore, in retinal ganglion cells, responses generated by GABA in cell-free patches were compared to whole-cell responses. After determining that the responses to GABA in acutely isolated outside-out patches were indeed similar to those of the whole-cell currents in retinal ganglion cells, the unitary conductances were studied. It was determined that these single-channel events resemble those reported in other nervous tissues with 4 elementary conductances of ~10 pS, 19–22 pS, 30–33 pS, and 45–50 pS at 33–35°C.


1982 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Patlak ◽  
R Horn

We have studied the effect of N-bromoacetamide (NBA) on the behavior of single sodium channel currents in excised patches of rat myotube membrane at 10 degree C. Inward sodium currents were activated by voltage steps from holding potentials of about -100 mV to test potentials of -40 mV. The cytoplasmic-face solution was isotonic CsF. Application of NBA or pronase to the cytoplasmic face of the membrane irreversibly removed sodium channel inactivation, as determined by averaged single-channel records. Teh lifetime of the open channel at -40 mV was increased about 10-fold by NBA treatment without affecting the amplitude of single-channel currents. A binomial analysis was used both before and after treatment to determine the number of channels within the excised patch. NBA was shown to have little effect on activation kinetics, as determined by an examination of both the rising phase of averaged currents and measurements f the delay between the start of the pulse and the first channel opening. Our data support a kinetic model of sodium channel activation in which the rate constant leading back from the open state to the last closed state is slower than expected from a strict Hodgkin-Huxley model. The data also suggest that the normal open-channel lifetime is primarily determined by the inactivation process in the voltage range we have examined.


2003 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujung Ryu ◽  
Beiying Liu ◽  
Feng Qin

Capsaicin ion channels are highly expressed in peripheral nervous terminals and involved in pain and thermal sensations. One characteristic of the cloned VR1 receptor is its multimodal responses to various types of noxious stimuli. The channel is independently activated by capsaicin and related vanilloids at submicromolar range, by heat above 40°C, and by protons at pH below 6.5. Furthermore, simultaneous applications of two or more stimuli lead to cross sensitization of the receptor, with an apparent increase in the sensitivity to any individual stimulus when applied alone. We studied here the mechanism underlying such cross-sensitization; in particular, between capsaicin and pH, two prototypical stimuli for the channel. By analyzing single-channel currents recorded from excised-patches expressing single recombinant VR1 receptors, we examined the effect of pH on burst properties of capsaicin activation at low concentrations and the effect on gating kinetics at high concentrations. Our results indicate that pH has dual effects on both capsaicin binding and channel gating. Lowering pH enhances the apparent binding affinity of capsaicin, promotes the occurrences of long openings and short closures, and stabilizes at least one of the open conformations of the channel. Our data also demonstrate that capsaicin binding and protonation of the receptor interact allosterically, where the effect of one can be offset by the effect of the other. These results provide important basis to further understand the nature of the activation pathways of the channel evoked by different stimuli as well as the general mechanism underling the cross-sensitization of pain.


1989 ◽  
Vol 257 (1) ◽  
pp. C77-C85 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. K. Gallin

Cell-attached patch studies of cultured human macrophages demonstrate that exposure to ionomycin induces inward-rectifying single-channel currents that differ from the voltage-dependent 28 pS inward-rectifying K currents previously described in these cells (J. Membr. Biol. 103: 55-66, 1988). With 150 mM KCl in the electrode and NaCl Hanks' solution in the bath, the ionomycin-induced single-channel conductance for inward currents was 37 pS, and the reversal potential was 57 mV. Channel activity was often associated with a shift in the base-line current level indicating that the cell membrane potential hyperpolarized. The ability of ionomycin to induce channel activity depended on extracellular [Ca] supporting the view that the channels were gated by calcium. Ionomycin-induced channels were permeable to K, relatively impermeable to Cl or Na, exhibited bursting kinetics, and had no apparent voltage dependence. Barium (3 mM in the patch electrode) did not significantly block the ionomycin-induced channel at rest but blocked channel activity when the patch was hyperpolarized beyond the resting membrane potential. Exposure of macrophages to platelet-activating factor, which is known to increase intracellular [Ca] [( Ca]i) (J. Cell Biol. 103: 439-450, 1986), also transiently induced channel activity. In excised patches with 3 microM [Ca]i bursting inward-rectifying channels with a 41 pS conductance were noted that probably correspond to the ionomycin-induced channels present in cell-attached patches. Increasing [Ca]i from 10(-8) to 3 x 10(-6) M induced inward-rectifying channel activity in previously quiescent excised patches.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1988 ◽  
Vol 106 (6) ◽  
pp. 1873-1878 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Ince ◽  
J M Coremans ◽  
D L Ypey ◽  
P C Leijh ◽  
A A Verveen ◽  
...  

The present study has shown that changes in ionic channel currents accompany the phagocytosis of particles by mononuclear phagocytes. The patch-clamp technique in the cell-attached configuration was applied to human monocyte-derived macrophages to measure the activity of single transmembrane ionic channels in intact cells. During such measurements, IgG-opsonized and non-opsonized latex particles were offered for phagocytosis under continuous video-microscopical observation. Single particles were presented to the phagocytes at a membrane location some distance from that of the patch electrode. After a lag period following particle attachment, enhanced inward and outward time-variant single channel currents coinciding with particle engulfment were observed. On the basis of current-voltage characteristics and membrane potential measurements, the outward-directed channels were identified as K+ channels. Phagocytosis was also accompanied by slow transient changes in background membrane currents, probably due to changes in the membrane potential of the phagocytosing cell. Phagocytosis of IgG-coated latex particles differed from phagocytosis of uncoated or albumin-coated particles by a shorter lag time between particle attachment and the onset of enhanced ionic channel activity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (2) ◽  
pp. C260-C271 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. X. Faria ◽  
F. P. DeFarias ◽  
Luiz Anastácio Alves

Stimulation of the P2X7receptor by ATP induces cell membrane depolarization, increase in intracellular Ca2+concentration, and, in most cases, permeabilization of the cell membrane to molecules up to 900 Da. After the activation of P2X7, at least two phenomena occur: the opening of low-conductance (8 pS) cationic channels and pore formation. At least two conflicting hypotheses have been postulated to reconcile these findings: 1) the P2X7pore is formed as a result of gradual permeability increase (dilation) of cationic channels, and 2) the P2X7pore represents a distinct channel, possibly activated by a second messenger and not directly by extracellular nucleotides. In this study, we investigated whether second messengers are necessary to open the pore associated with the P2X7receptor in cells that expressed the pore activity by using the patch-clamp technique in whole cell and cell-attached configurations in conjunction with fluorescent imaging. In peritoneal macrophages and 2BH4 cells, we detected permeabilization and single-channel currents in the cell-attached configuration when ATP was applied outside the membrane patch in a condition in which oxidized ATP and Lucifer yellow were maintained within the pipette. Our data support Ca2+as a second messenger associated with pore formation because the permeabilization depended on the presence of intracellular Ca2+and was blocked by BAPTA-AM. In addition, MAPK inhibitors (SB-203580 and PD-98059) blocked the permeabilization and single-channel currents in these cells. Together our data indicate that the P2X7pore depends on second messengers such as Ca2+and MAP kinases.


2001 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana S. Scornik ◽  
Laura A. Merriam ◽  
Rodney L. Parsons

Spontaneous miniature outward currents (SMOCs) in parasympathetic neurons from mudpuppy cardiac ganglia are caused by activation of TEA- and iberiotoxin-sensitive, Ca2+-dependent K+(BK) channels. Previously we reported that SMOCs are activated by Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) from caffeine- and ryanodine-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores. In the present study, we analyzed the single channel currents that contribute to SMOC generation in mudpuppy cardiac neurons. The slope conductance of BK channels, determined from the I-V relationship of single-channel currents recorded with cell-attached patches in physiological K+ concentrations, was 84 pS. The evidence supporting the identity of this channel as the channel involved in SMOC generation was its sensitivity to internal Ca2+, external TEA, and caffeine. In cell-attached patch recordings, 166 μM TEA applied in the pipette reduced single-channel current amplitude by 32%, and bath-applied caffeine increased BK channel activity. The ratio between the averaged SMOC amplitude and the single-channel current amplitude was used to estimate the average number of channels involved in SMOC generation. The estimated number of channels involved in generation of an averaged SMOC ranged from 18 to 23 channels. We also determined that the Po of the BK channels at the peak of a SMOC remains constant at voltages more positive than −20 mV, suggesting that the transient rise in intracellular Ca2+from ryanodine-sensitive intracellular stores in the vicinity of the BK channel reached concentrations most likely exceeding 40 μM.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document