title: Properties of single Na+ channels in cut-open Myxicola giant axons.
abstract: Time- and voltage-dependent behavior of the Na+ conductance in dialyzed intact Myxicola axons was compared with cut-open axons subjected to loose-patch clamp of the interior and to axons where Gigaseals were formed after brief enzyme digestion. Voltage and time dependence of activation, inactivation, and reactivation were identical in whole-axons and loose-patch preparations. Single channels observed in patch-clamp axons had a conductance of 18.3 +/- 2.3 pS and a mean open time of 0.84 +/- 0.12 ms. The time-dependence of Na+ currents found by averaging patch-clamp records was similar to intact axons, as was the voltage dependence of activation. Steady-state inactivation in patch-clamped axons was shifted by an average of 15 mV from that seen in loose-patch or intact axons. Substitution of D2O for H2O decreased single channel conductance by 24 +/- 6% in patch-clamped axons compared with 28 +/- 4% in intact axons, slowed inactivation by 58 +/- 8% compared with 49 +/- 6%, and increased mean open time by 52 +/- 7%. The results confirm observations on macroscopic channel behavior in Myxicola and resemble that seen in other excitable tissues.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D003903:Deuterium; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000502:physiology*; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D012964:Sodium; D003903:Deuterium