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. 1981 Oct;74(2):333–339. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1981.tb09976.x

Some effects of chemical irritants on the membrane of the giant amoeba.

R W Foster, A H Weston, K M Weston
PMCID: PMC2071733  PMID: 6797494

Abstract

1 The effects of chemical irritants on the membrane potential and input resistance of the giant amoeba, Chaos carolinense, have been investigated. The membrane potential and input resistance were -111.5 mV and 8.6 M pi respectively. 2 In the resting state the cell membrane of Chaos carolinense was found to be impermeable to Na+ but permeable to K+. The distribution of K+ across the cell membrane conformed to a Donnan equilibrium with the resting membrane potential being the K+ equilibrium potential. 3 The chemical irritants dibenzoxazepine and its 2-chloro- and 3-chloro-analogues and o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile produced a fall in input resistance but no change in membrane potential. It is suggested that these effects are caused by an increase in K+ permeability. 4 The potencies of a series of chemical irritants with respect to dibenzoxazepine were measured on the giant amoeba. These potencies did not reflect those found in mammalian preparations.

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Selected References

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

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