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Contributions of various ions to the resting and action potentials of crayfish medial giant axons

The Journal of Membrane Biology volume 5, pages 345–365 (1971)Cite this article

Summary

The membrane of crayfish medial giant axons is permeable at rest to ions in the rank K>Na>Ca>Cl. With K present, variation of the other ions has little or no effect, but with K absent the axon hyperpolarizes when Na is reduced or eliminated by replacement with Tris (slope ca. 30 mV/decade Na0). The hyperpolarization is independent of the presence of Cl or its absence (substitution with methanesulfonate or isethionate). The resistance increases progressively as Na is removed. These changes persist after the spike is blocked with tetrodotoxin. An increase in Ca causes depolarization (slope ca. 20 mV/decade) provided K, Na and Cl are all absent, but in the presence of Cl there is little or no change in membrane potential on increasing Ca to 150mm. The depolarization induced by Ca is associated with an increased resistance. Spike electrogenesis involves Ca activation as well as Na activation, but the after-depolarization at the end of the spike is due to a conductance increase for Ca. Two alternative equivalent circuits for the resting and active membrane are discussed.

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Author notes

  1. Shunichi Yamagishi

    Present address: Department of Physiology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Seirycho, Sendai, Japan

Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 10032, New York, New York

    Shunichi Yamagishi & Harry Grundfest

Authors
  1. Shunichi Yamagishi
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  2. Harry Grundfest
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Yamagishi, S., Grundfest, H. Contributions of various ions to the resting and action potentials of crayfish medial giant axons. J. Membrain Biol. 5, 345–365 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957351

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01957351

Keywords

  • Membrane Potential
  • Human Physiology
  • Equivalent Circuit
  • Conductance Increase
  • Methanesulfonate