Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1984 Jun;351:645–656. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1984.sp015268

Potassium current in clonal cytotoxic T lymphocytes from the mouse.

Y Fukushima, S Hagiwara, M Henkart
PMCID: PMC1193140  PMID: 6611410

Abstract

The electrical properties of the cell membrane of clonal cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the mouse were studied by using the whole cell variation of the patch electrode voltage-clamp technique. Outward currents were activated with an exponential time course of several milliseconds time constant when the membrane potential was made more positive than -50 to -40 mV. This current is not activated as a result of Ca2+ entry. The estimated reversal potential of the current indicates that the current is predominantly carried by K+. The activation kinetics depend only on membrane potential, not on [K+]0. The amplitude of the current decreases exponentially with time constants of several hundred milliseconds during a maintained voltage pulse, due mainly to a decrease in conductance. Recovery from inactivation roughly followed a single exponential time course with a time constant of tens of seconds; this time constant depended upon not only the membrane potential but also the amount of initial inactivation. The current is suppressed by quinidine and tetraethylammonium, their half-suppression concentrations being 23 microM and 14 mM respectively. An increase of the outward current is suggested to be associated with the lethal hit of the cytotoxic reaction.

Full text

PDF
645

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aldrich R. W., Jr, Getting P. A., Thompson S. H. Inactivation of delayed outward current in molluscan neurone somata. J Physiol. 1979 Jun;291:507–530. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012828. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Armando-Hardy M., Ellory J. C., Ferreira H. G., Fleminger S., Lew V. L. Inhibition of the calcium-induced increase in the potassium permeability of human red blood cells by quinine. J Physiol. 1975 Aug;250(1):32P–33P. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Atwater I., Dawson C. M., Ribalet B., Rojas E. Potassium permeability activated by intracellular calcium ion concentration in the pancreatic beta-cell. J Physiol. 1979 Mar;288:575–588. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burgess G. M., Claret M., Jenkinson D. H. Effects of quinine and apamin on the calcium-dependent potassium permeability of mammalian hepatocytes and red cells. J Physiol. 1981 Aug;317:67–90. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1981.sp013814. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Connor J. A., Stevens C. F. Inward and delayed outward membrane currents in isolated neural somata under voltage clamp. J Physiol. 1971 Feb;213(1):1–19. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009364. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Deutsch C. J., Holian A., Holian S. K., Daniele R. P., Wilson D. F. Transmembrane electrical and pH gradients across human erythrocytes and human peripheral lymphocytes. J Cell Physiol. 1979 Apr;99(1):79–93. doi: 10.1002/jcp.1040990110. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Ehrenstein G., Gilbert D. L. Slow changes of potassium permeability in the squid giant axon. Biophys J. 1966 Sep;6(5):553–566. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(66)86677-8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fukushima Y., Hagiwara S. Voltage-gated Ca2+ channel in mouse myeloma cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Apr;80(8):2240–2242. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.8.2240. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HAGIWARA S., KUSANO K., SAITO N. Membrane changes of Onchidium nerve cell in potassium-rich media. J Physiol. 1961 Mar;155:470–489. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1961.sp006640. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. HODGKIN A. L., HUXLEY A. F. A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve. J Physiol. 1952 Aug;117(4):500–544. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1952.sp004764. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hagiwara S., Ohmori H. Studies of calcium channels in rat clonal pituitary cells with patch electrode voltage clamp. J Physiol. 1982 Oct;331:231–252. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1982.sp014371. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hamill O. P., Marty A., Neher E., Sakmann B., Sigworth F. J. Improved patch-clamp techniques for high-resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches. Pflugers Arch. 1981 Aug;391(2):85–100. doi: 10.1007/BF00656997. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hanani M., Shaw C. A potassium contribution to the response of the barnacle photoreceptor. J Physiol. 1977 Aug;270(1):151–163. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp011943. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kiefer H., Blume A. J., Kaback H. R. Membrane potential changes during mitogenic stimulation of mouse spleen lymphocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Apr;77(4):2200–2204. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.4.2200. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Martz E. Mechanism of specific tumor-cell lysis by alloimmune T lymphocytes: resolution and characterization of discrete steps in the cellular interaction. Contemp Top Immunobiol. 1977;7:301–361. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-3054-7_9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Martz E., Parker W. L., Gately M. K., Tsoukas C. D. The role of calcium in the lethal hit of T lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1982;146:121–147. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-8959-0_9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Nakajima S. Analysis of K inactivation and TEA action in the supramedullary cells of puffer. J Gen Physiol. 1966 Mar;49(4):629–640. doi: 10.1085/jgp.49.4.629. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Okada Y., Tsuchiya W., Yada T. Calcium channel and calcium pump involved in oscillatory hyperpolarizing responses of L-strain mouse fibroblasts. J Physiol. 1982 Jun;327:449–461. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1982.sp014242. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ribalet B., Beigelman P. M. Calcium action potentials and potassium permeability activation in pancreatic beta-cells. Am J Physiol. 1980 Sep;239(3):C124–C133. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.1980.239.3.C124. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rink T. J., Montecucco C., Hesketh T. R., Tsien R. Y. Lymphocyte membrane potential assessed with fluorescent probes. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1980;595(1):15–30. doi: 10.1016/0005-2736(80)90243-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Russell J. H., Dobos C. B. Accelerated 86Rb+ (K+) release from the cytotoxic T lymphocyte is a physiologic event associated with delivery of the lethal hit. J Immunol. 1983 Sep;131(3):1138–1141. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Spiess P. J., Rosenberg S. A. A simplified method for the production of murine T-cell growth factor free of lectin. J Immunol Methods. 1981;42(2):213–222. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(81)90151-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Taki M. Studies on blastogenesis of human lymphocytes by phytohemagglutinin, with special reference to changes of membrane potential during blastoid transformation. Mie Med J. 1970 Jan;19(3):245–262. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Tsien R. Y., Pozzan T., Rink T. J. T-cell mitogens cause early changes in cytoplasmic free Ca2+ and membrane potential in lymphocytes. Nature. 1982 Jan 7;295(5844):68–71. doi: 10.1038/295068a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES