title: Use-dependent block of sodium channels in frog myelinated nerve by tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin at negative holding potentials.
abstract: Na+ currents were measured in myelinated frog nerve fibres in the presence of nanomolar concentrations of tetrodotoxin (TTX) or saxitoxin (STX) in the extracellular solution. The Na+ currents declined during a train of depolarizing pulses if the fibre was held at hyperpolarizing potentials between the pulses. At a pulse frequency of 0.8 Hz, the peak Na+ currents were reduced to 70 or 60% of the initial value in 9.3 nM TTX and 3.5 nM STX solutions, respectively. A decline of Na+ currents was also observed in two-pulse experiments. The peak Na+ current during a second test pulse did not depend on the duration (0.2 to 12 ms) of the first pulse. It decreased with increasing interval between the pulses, reached a minimum and increased again. The results are interpreted with a use-dependent blockage of Na+ channels by TTX or STX at negative holding potentials. The effects were described quantitatively, assuming a fast affinity increase of toxin receptors at Na+ channels triggered by Na+ activation followed by slow toxin binding to channels and relaxation of the receptor affinity.
authors.affiliation: Physiologisches Institut der Universität des Saarlandes, Homburg/Saar, F.R.G.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lönnendonker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011893:Rana esculenta; D012530:Saxitoxin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015222:Sodium Channels; D012530:Saxitoxin; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; D012964:Sodium