Abstract
Asymmetric displacement currents, Ig, associated with the gating of nerve sodium channels have been recorded in cell-attached macropatches of Xenopus laevis oocytes injected with exogenous mRNA coding for rat-brain-II sodium channels. The Ig properties were found to be similar to those of gating currents previously observed in native nerve preparations. Ig fluctuations were measured in order to ascertain the discreteness of the conformational changes which precede the channel opening. The autocorrelation of the fluctuations is consistent with a shot-like character of the elementary Ig contributions. The variance of the fluctuations indicates that most of the gating-charge movement that accompanies the activation of a single sodium channel occurs in 2 to 3 brief packets, each carrying an equivalent of about 2.3 electron charges.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldrich RW, Corey DP, Stevens CF (1983) A reinterpretation of mammalian sodium channel gating based on single channel recording. Nature 306:436–441
Armstrong CM, Bezanilla F (1974) Charge movement associated with the opening and closing of the activation gates of the Na channels. J Gen Physiol 63:533–552
Armstrong CM, Bezanilla F (1977) Inactivation of the sodium channel. II. Gating current experiments. J Gen Physiol 70:567–590
Conti F (1986) The relationship betwen electrophysiological data and thermodynamics of ion channel conformations. Neurol Neurobiol 20:25–41
Conti F, Stühmer W (1988) Gating currents and their fluctuations in sodium channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes after injection of exogenous mRNA. 11th Annual Meeting of the European Neuroscience Association
Conti F, Palmieri G (1968) Nerve fiber behaviour in heavy water under voltage-clamp. Biophysik 5:71–77
Conti F, Wanke E (1975) Channel noise in nerve membranes and lipid bilayers. Q Rev Biophys 8:451–506
Conti F, DeFelice LJ, Wanke E (1975) Potassium and sodium ion current noise in the membrane of the squid giant axon. J Physiol (London) 248:45–82
Conti F, Neumcke B, Nonner W, Stämpfli R (1980) Conductance fluctuations from the inactivation process of sodium channels in myelinated nerve fibres. J Physiol (London) 308:217–239
Conti F, Inoue I, Kukita F, Stühmer W (1984) Pressure dependence of sodium gating currents in the squid giant axon. Eur Biophys J 11:137–147
DeFelice LJ (1981) Introduction to membrane noise. Plenum Press, New York
Dubois JM, Schneider MF (1982) Kinetics of intramembrane charge movement and sodium current in frog node of Ranvier. J Gen Physiol 79:571–602
Edmonds DT (1987) A comparison of sodium channel kinetics in the squid axon, the frog node and the frog node with BTX using the “silent gate‘ model. Eur Biophys J 15:27–33
FitzHugh R (1965) A kinetic model of the conductance changes in nerve membrane. J Cell Comp Physiol 66:111–118
French RJ, Horn R (1983) Sodium channel gating: models, mimics, and modifiers. Annu Rev Biophys Bioeng 12:319–356
Hamill OP, Marty A, Neher E, Sakmann B, Sigworth FJ (1981) Improved patch-clamp techniques for high resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches. Pflügers Arch 391:85–100
Hodgkin AL, Huxley AF (1952) A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve. J Physiol (London) 117:500–544
Horn R, Vandenberg CA (1984) Statistical properties of single sodium channels. J Gen Physiol 84:505–534
Katz B, Miledi R (1970) Membrane noise produced by acetylcholine. Nature 226:962–963
Keynes RD (1983) Voltage-gated ion channels in the nerve membrane. Proc R Soc Lond B220:1–30
Keynes RD, Rojas E (1976) The temporal and steady-state relationships between activation of the sodium conductance and movement of the gating particles in the squid giant axon. J Physiol 255:157–189
Methfessel C, Witzemann V, Takahashi T, Mishina M, Numa S, Sakmann B (1986) Patch clamp measurements on Xenopus laevis oocytes: currents through endogenous channels and implanted acetylcholine receptor and sodium channels. Pflügers Arch 407:577–588
Meves H (1974) The effect of holding potential on the asymmetry currents in squid giant axons. J Physiol (London) 243:847–867
Neher E, Sakmann B (1976) Single-channel currents recorded from membrane of denervated frog muscle fibres. Nature 260:799–802
Neher E, Stevens CA (1977) Conductance fluctuation and ionic prores in membranes. Annu Rev Biophys Bioeng 6:345–381
Neumcke B, Nonner W, Stämpfli R (1976) Asymmetrical displacement current and its relation of the activation of sodium current in the membrane of frog myelinated nerve. Pflügers Arch 363:193–203
Noda M, Ikeda T, Suzuki H, Takeshima H, Kuno M, Numa S (1986) Expression of functional sodium channels from cloned cDNA. Nature 322:826–828
Schauf CL, Bullock JO (1979) Modifications of sodium channel gating in Myxicola giant axons by deuterium oxide, temperature, and internal cations. Biophys J 27:193–208
Schottky W (1918) Über spontane Stromschwankungen in verschiedenen Elektrizitätsleitern. Ann Phys 57:541–567
Schwarz G (1978) On the physico-chemical basis of voltage-dependent molecular gating mechanisms in biological membranes. J Membr Biol 43:127–148
Sigworth FJ (1977) Sodium channels in nerve apparently have two conductance states. Nature 270:265–267
Stimers JR, Bezanilla F, Taylor RE (1985) Sodium channel activation in the squid giant axon. Steady state properties. J Gen Physiol 85:65–82
Stühmer W, Methfessel C, Sakmann B, Noda M, Numa S (1987) Patch clamp characterization of sodium channels expressed from rat brain cDNA. Eur Biophys J 14:131–138
Stühmer W, Conti F, Suzuki H, Wang X, Noda M, Yahagi N, Kubo H, Numa S (1989) Structural parts involved in activation and inactivation of the sodium channel. Nature (in press)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Conti, F., Stühmer, W. Quantal charge redistributions accompanying the structural transitions of sodium channels. Eur Biophys J 17, 53–59 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257102
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00257102