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. 1994 Dec;14(6):781–789. doi: 10.1007/BF02088684

Metal ion-induced permeability changes in cell membranes: A minireview

Tibor Kiss 1,✉, Oleg Osipenko 2
PMCID: PMC11566930  PMID: 7641236

Abstract

1. The paper summarizes the effects of the metal ions Cu2+, Pb2+, Ag+, Hg2+, Zn2+, and Cd2+ applied externally or internally to the surface membrane of different excitable cells.

2. Conductance changes induced by metal ions, and metal ion-activated current, are compared with respect to their ion and voltage dependence.

3. It is suggested that metal ion-induced effects can be realized through special structures of the cell membrane, the metal ion “receptors,” although other mechanisms, as, for example, competition for Ca-binding sites in the channel forming proteins, cannot be excluded.

Key words: excitable membrane, ionic channel, heavy metal, metal ion-induced current

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