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Ion conductance and ion selectivity of potassium channels in snail neurones

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Summary

Delayed potassium channels were studied in internally perfused neurone somata from land snails. Relaxation and fluctuation analysis of this class of ion channels revealed Hodgkin-Huxley type K channels with an average single channel conductance (γ K) of 2.40±0.15 pS. The conductance of open channels is independent of voltage and virtually all K channels seem to be open at maximum K conductance (g K) of the membrane. Voltage dependent time constants of activation ofg K, calculated from K current relaxation and from cut-off frequencies of power spectra, are very similar indicating dominant first-order kinetics. Ion selectivity of K channels was studied by ion substitution in the external medium and exhibited the following sequence: T1+>K+>Rb+>Cs+>NH +4 >Li+>Na+. The sequence of the alkali cations does not conform to any of the sequences predicted by Eisenman's theory. However, the data are well accommodated by a new theory assuming a single rate-limiting barrier that governs ion movement through the channel.

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Author notes

  1. H. Reuter

    Present address: Department of Pharmacology, University of Bern, Friedbuhlstraße 49, 3010, Bern, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 06510, New Haven, Connecticut

    H. Reuter & C. F. Stevens

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  1. H. Reuter
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  2. C. F. Stevens
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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Walther Wilbrandt.

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Reuter, H., Stevens, C.F. Ion conductance and ion selectivity of potassium channels in snail neurones. J. Membrain Biol. 57, 103–118 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01868997

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