Sodium flux ratio in voltage-clamped squid giant axons

The sodium flux ratio across the axolemma of internally perfused, voltage-clamped giant axons of Loligo pealei has been measured at various membrane potentials. The flux ratio exponent obtained from these measurements was about unity and independent of membrane voltage over the 50 mV range from about -20 to ł mV. These results, combined with previous measurements of ion permeation through sodium channels, show that the sodium channel behaves like a multi-ion pore with two ion binding sites that are rarely simultaneously occupied by sodium.