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Potassium channels in plasmalemma ofNitella cells at rest

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Summary

Cation channels of passive transport in the plasmalemma ofNitella flexilis cells at rest were studied by the voltageclamp technique using microelectrodes. Two types of potassium channels have been identified. They are activated at different voltages: over −100 to −80 mV (D-channels) and below −100 mV (H-channels). The zero-current potential of instantaneous voltage-current curves (IVCC's) for both types of channels shifts by 50 to 55 mV in response to a 10-fold increase of K+ concentration in the solution. Ion movement in D-channels follows the free diffusion mechanism; in H-channels the independence principle is violated. The channel selectivity (in the order of decreasing permeability) is: K+>Rb+>NH +4 >Na+≥Li+>Cs+>TEA+≈ choline+. It has been found that D-channel Cs+ block is potential dependent while tetraethylammonium (TEA+) blocks H-channels in a potential-independent manner, but H+ ions do not affect the inward potassium current of the channels. Two types of potassium channels appear to be located in different parts of the membrane and their entrance parts are of different structure.

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  1. Laboratory of Photosynthesis, V. F. Kuprevich institute of Experimental Botany, Byelorussian Academy of Sciences, Minsk, USSR

    A. I. Sokolik & V. M. Yurin

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  1. A. I. Sokolik
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  2. V. M. Yurin
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Sokolik, A.I., Yurin, V.M. Potassium channels in plasmalemma ofNitella cells at rest. J. Membrain Biol. 89, 9–22 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870892

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01870892

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