Figure 1.

Macroscopic versus microscopic potentiation of wild-type (wt) α7 by PNU. a, Whole-cell currents elicited by separate applications of 100 μm ACh to a single HEK 293 cell expressing wild-type human α7 before (left) and after (right) a 60 s incubation with 3 μm PNU. b, Addition of 3 μm PNU to the extracellular solution surrounding a cell-attached patch of wild-type human α7 results in a marked increase in current in the continued presence of 100 μm ACh in the patch pipette. c, Expanded view of the boxed region in b showing that the rise in current results from a dramatic PNU-induced prolongation of channel openings. Note that in b the trace was filtered at 0.1 kHz, while in c the same trace was filtered at 5 kHz to better resolve brief openings.