title: Single calcium channels in resistance-sized cerebral arteries from rats.
abstract: Unitary currents through single calcium channels were measured from cell-attached patches on smooth muscle cells isolated from resistance-sized branches of posterior cerebral arteries from Wistar-Kyoto normotensive rats. Barium (80 and 10 mM) was used as the charge carrier, with and without the dihydropyridine calcium channel agonist BAY R 5417. Unitary currents decreased on membrane depolarization, with a slope conductance of 19.4 pS (80 mM barium). Channel open-state probability (Po) was steeply voltage dependent. Peak Po during test pulses from -70 mV increased e-fold per 4.5-mV depolarization. Mean peak Po at potentials positive to +10 mV was 0.44. Po at steady membrane potentials was also steeply voltage dependent, changing e-fold per 4.5 mV in the absence of inactivation. Steady-state Po at positive potentials was substantially lower than peak Po elicited by test pulses, suggesting that steady-state inactivation can reduce Po by as much as 10-fold. Membrane depolarization decreased the longest mean closed time but had little effect on the mean open time of single calcium channels measured during steady-state recordings. Lowering the external barium concentration from 80 to 10 mM reduced the single channel conductance to 12.4 pS and shifted the relationship between steady-state Po and membrane potential by about -30 mV. BAY R 5417 also shifted this relationship by about -15 mV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Vermont Medical Research Facility, Colchester 05446-2500.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Quayle
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: McCarron
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Asbury
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006706:Homeostasis; D008297:Male; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D014655:Vascular Resistance
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D001498:3-Pyridinecarboxylic acid, 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-5-nitro-4-(2-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-, Methyl ester