Skip to main content
Biophysical Journal logoLink to Biophysical Journal
. 1987 Dec;52(6):1087–1090. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(87)83304-0

Single sodium channels from the squid giant axon.

F Bezanilla 1
PMCID: PMC1330110  PMID: 2447971

Abstract

Since the work of A. L. Hodgkin and A. F. Huxley (1952. J. Physiol. [Lond.].117:500-544) the squid giant axon has been considered the classical preparation for the study of voltage-dependent sodium and potassium channels. In this preparation much data have been gathered on macroscopic and gating currents but no single sodium channel data have been available. This paper reports patch clamp recording of single sodium channel events from the cut-open squid axon. It is shown that the single channel conductance in the absence of external divalent ions is approximately 14 pS, similar to sodium channels recorded from other preparations, and that their kinetic properties are consistent with previous results on gating and macroscopic currents obtained from the perfused squid axon preparation.

Full text

PDF
1087

Selected References

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

  1. Aldrich R. W., Corey D. P., Stevens C. F. A reinterpretation of mammalian sodium channel gating based on single channel recording. Nature. 1983 Dec 1;306(5942):436–441. doi: 10.1038/306436a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Aldrich R. W., Stevens C. F. Voltage-dependent gating of single sodium channels from mammalian neuroblastoma cells. J Neurosci. 1987 Feb;7(2):418–431. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.07-02-00418.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Armstrong C. M., Bezanilla F. Inactivation of the sodium channel. II. Gating current experiments. J Gen Physiol. 1977 Nov;70(5):567–590. doi: 10.1085/jgp.70.5.567. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Armstrong C. M. Sodium channels and gating currents. Physiol Rev. 1981 Jul;61(3):644–683. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1981.61.3.644. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bekkers J. M., Greeff N. G., Keynes R. D. The conductance and density of sodium channels in the cut-open squid giant axon. J Physiol. 1986 Aug;377:463–486. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1986.sp016198. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bezanilla F. Gating of sodium and potassium channels. J Membr Biol. 1985;88(2):97–111. doi: 10.1007/BF01868424. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Conti F., De Felice L. J., Wanke E. Potassium and sodium ion current noise in the membrane of the squid giant axon. J Physiol. 1975 Jun;248(1):45–82. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1975.sp010962. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Conti F., Neher E. Single channel recordings of K+ currents in squid axons. Nature. 1980 May 15;285(5761):140–143. doi: 10.1038/285140a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. 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]
  10. 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]
  11. Horn R., Vandenberg C. A. Statistical properties of single sodium channels. J Gen Physiol. 1984 Oct;84(4):505–534. doi: 10.1085/jgp.84.4.505. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Keynes R. D. The Croonian Lecture, 1983. Voltage-gated ion channels in the nerve membrane. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1983 Nov 22;220(1218):1–30. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1983.0086. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Llano I., Bezanilla F. Analysis of sodium current fluctuations in the cut-open squid giant axon. J Gen Physiol. 1984 Feb;83(2):133–142. doi: 10.1085/jgp.83.2.133. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Llano I., Bezanilla F. Current recorded from a cut-open giant axon under voltage clamp. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Dec;77(12):7484–7486. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.12.7484. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Noda M., Shimizu S., Tanabe T., Takai T., Kayano T., Ikeda T., Takahashi H., Nakayama H., Kanaoka Y., Minamino N. Primary structure of Electrophorus electricus sodium channel deduced from cDNA sequence. Nature. 1984 Nov 8;312(5990):121–127. doi: 10.1038/312121a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sigworth F. J., Neher E. Single Na+ channel currents observed in cultured rat muscle cells. Nature. 1980 Oct 2;287(5781):447–449. doi: 10.1038/287447a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Stimers J. R., Bezanilla F., Taylor R. E. Sodium channel gating currents. Origin of the rising phase. J Gen Physiol. 1987 Apr;89(4):521–540. doi: 10.1085/jgp.89.4.521. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Yamamoto D., Yeh J. Z., Narahashi T. Voltage-dependent calcium block of normal and tetramethrin-modified single sodium channels. Biophys J. 1984 Jan;45(1):337–344. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(84)84159-4. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biophysical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biophysical Society

RESOURCES