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. 1968 May 1;51(5):621–634. doi: 10.1085/jgp.51.5.621

Effect of Low Sodium, Tetrodotoxin, and Temperature Variation upon Excitation

Rita Guttman 1; with the technical assistance of Robert Barnhill1
PMCID: PMC2201220  PMID: 5654403

Abstract

The lowering of external sodium raised both the constant quantity threshold, Qo, and the rheobase, Io, in both real space-clamped squid axons and the theoretical axon as computed on the basis of the standard Hodgkin-Huxley equations. In both real and theoretical axons the minimum intensity for excitability for short pulses, which occurs at about 15°C, was still present when low sodium replaced seawater. Low sodium did not affect the temperature dependence of the strength-duration relationship in the range, 5° to 25°C. The excitability of tetrodotoxin-treated real axons was found to be more temperature-dependent than that of normal real axons. Also the data on dosage-response to TTX of real axons fit the dose-response relationship of a hypothetical system in which one TTX ion binds reversibly to its receptor to produce a fraction of the inhibitory effect, the curve being identical to a simple adsorption isotherm. The Hodgkin-Huxley equations describe the broad outline of events occurring during excitation quite well.

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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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