title: A quantitative study of the enhancing effect of nickel ions on the taste response to sodium ions of single fibers of the frog glossopharyngeal nerve: competitive inhibition by calcium ions of the nickel-enhanced response to sodium ions.
abstract: Single water fibers of the frog glossopharyngeal nerve respond to relatively high concentrations of NaCl ( > 80 mM). NiCl2 at 1 mM enhanced the Na+ response and reduced the threshold concentration for NaCl to 20 mM. CaCl2 at 0.5-1 mM induced an inhibition of the Ni2+ -enhanced response to Na+ ions. A quantitative explanations for these results is provided by the hypothesis that Ni2+ ions secondarily affect a sodium receptor or channel (designated XNa*) that is responsible for the Na+ response and that Ca2+ ions inhibit the Ni2+ -enhanced response to Na+ ions by competing with Na+ ions for XNa*. Double-reciprocal plots of the experimental data indicate that the affinity of XNa* for both Na+ ions (agonist) and Ca2+ ions (competitive antagonist) in the presence of 1 mM NiCl2 was five times higher than the previously reported values obtained in the absence of NiCl2 (Kitada, 1991). Ni2+ ions at 1 mM enhanced the maximal response to Na+ ions by 190%. It appears that a sodium receptor (or channel) interacts with a Ni2+ -binding element that is affected by Ni2+ ions and, thus, Ni2+ ions can induce both an increase in the affinity of the sodium receptor for the respective cations and an enhancement of the Na+ response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Okayama University Dental School, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitada
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mitoh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005930:Glossopharyngeal Nerve / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009532:Nickel / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011892:Rana catesbeiana; D012964:Sodium; D013649:Taste / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009532:Nickel; D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium