| The incessant traffic of ions across cell membranes is controlled by two kinds of border guards: ion channels and ion pumps. Open channels let selected ions diffuse rapidly down electrical and concentration gradients, whereas ion pumps labour tirelessly to maintain the gradients by consuming energy to slowly move ions thermodynamically uphill. Because of the diametrically opposed tasks and th...

ATP-sensitive potassium channels (K(ATP) channels) are important sensors of cellular metabolic state that link metabolism and excitability in neuroendocrine cells, but their role in nonglucosensing central neurons is less well understood. To examine a possible role for K(ATP) channels in modulating excitability in hippocampal circuits, we recorded the activity of single K(ATP) channels in cell-...

Cyclic nucleotide-gated channels are key components in the transduction of visual and olfactory signals where their role is to respond to changes in the intracellular concentration of cyclic nucleotides. Although these channels poorly select between physiologically relevant monovalent cations, the gating by cyclic nucleotide is different in the presence of Na(+) or K(+) ions. This property was ...

Large conductance K(+) (BK) channels are a key determinant of neuronal excitability. Medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) neurons regulate eye movements to ensure image stabilization during head movement, and changes in their intrinsic excitability may play a critical role in plasticity of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Plasticity of intrinsic excitability in MVN neurons is mediated by kinases, and BK...

Open channel block (OCB) is a process by which ions bind to the inside of a channel pore and block the flow of ions through that channel. Repulsion of the blocking ions by membrane depolarization is a known mechanism for open channel block removal. For the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) channel, this mechanism is necessary for channel activation and is involved in neuronal plasticity. Several type...

Use-dependent block of Na(+) channels plays an important role in the action of many medications, including the anticonvulsants phenytoin, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine. These anticonvulsants all slowly yet selectively bind to a common receptor site in inactivated but not resting Na(+) channels, constituting the molecular basis of the use-dependent block. However, it remains unclear what channe...

We have further characterized at the single channel level the properties of epithelial sodium channels formed by coexpression of alpha with either wild-type beta or gamma subunits and alpha with carboxy-terminal truncated beta (betaT) or gamma (gammaT) subunits in Xenopus laevis oocytes. alphabeta and alphabetaT channels (9.6 and 8.7 pS, respectively, with 150 mM Li+) were found to be constitut...

Blockade of large-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK) channels by the bulky quaternary ammonium compound, N-(4-[benzoyl]benzyl)-N,N,N-tributylammonium (bbTBA), exhibits features consistent with blockade of both closed and open states. Here, we examine block of closed BK channels by bbTBA and how it may differ from block of open channels. Although our observations generally confirm earlier re...

The kinetics of 9-aminoacridine (9-AA) block of single Na channels in neuroblastoma N1E-115 cells were studied using the gigohm seal, patch clamp technique, under the condition in which the Na current inactivation had been eliminated by treatment with N-bromoacetamide (NBA). Following NBA treatment, the current flowing through individual Na channels was manifested by square-wave open events las...

kappa-conotoxin PVIIA is the first conotoxin known to interact with voltage-gated potassium channels by inhibiting Shaker-mediated currents. We studied the mechanism of inhibition and concluded that PVIIA blocks the ion pore with a 1:1 stoichiometry and that binding to open or closed channels is very different. Open-channel properties are revealed by relaxations of partial block during step dep...