title: Kinetics of activation of the sodium conductance in the squid giant axon.
abstract: The time course of the rise in sodium conductance during positive voltage-clamp pulses was measured in squid giant axons perfused with CsF and immersed in low-sodium solutions. The initial transients were eliminated by subtraction of records made after blocking the sodium channels with tetrodotoxin. The value of tau m as defined by Hodgkin & Huxley (1952) passed through a well defined maximum at a membrane potential of about -35 mV. On fitting the initial inflexion in the rise of INa to the expression mXh instead of m3h, the value of X was found to vary from axon to axon between 2.9 and 4.4, with an average of 3.5. For any given axon, X did not vary significantly with pulse potential. Measurements of tau m were made on approaching each value of the membrane potential both from the negative and from the positive side. The cube law kinetics of the Hodgkin-Huxley equations were closely obeyed. Application of a negative prepulse to -180 mV delayed the rise of conductance by 20 musec at 7 degrees C without obviously changing tau m. Comparisons of the voltage dependence of tau m with that of the time constant tau 1 of the fast relaxation of the asymmetry current measured in the same axon, showed that tau 1 was smaller than tau m except at positive potentials, was less steeply voltage-dependent, and reached its maximum at a more positive potential.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001693:Biological Transport, Active / Q000187:drug effects; D049832:Decapodiformes; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000187:drug effects; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; D012964:Sodium