Voltage-gated Na(+) channel (VGSC) beta1 subunits regulate cell-cell adhesion and channel activity in vitro. We previously showed that beta1 promotes neurite outgrowth in cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) via homophilic cell adhesion, fyn kinase, and contactin. Here we demonstrate that beta1-mediated neurite outgrowth requires Na(+) current (I(Na)) mediated by Na(v)1.6. In addition, beta1 is re...

Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or concanavalin A treatment of lymphocytes causes an increase in membrane permeability so that the leak rates of Na and K increase 1.5- to 2-fold. Active Na and K transport increase proportionately in response to the increased membrane permeability. We have examined the role of lymphocyte Na concentration in sustaining the increased Na and K transport observed after PHA...

Inactivation is a fundamental characteristic of Na(+) channels, and small changes cause skeletal muscle paralysis and myotonia, epilepsy, and cardiac arrhythmia. Brain Na(v)1.2a channels have faster inactivation than cardiac Na(v)1.5 channels, but minor differences in inactivation gate structure are not responsible. We constructed chimeras in which the C termini beyond the fourth homologous dom...

Hypertension is linked to disturbed total-body sodium (Na ) regulation; however, measuring Na disposition in the body is difficult. We implemented Na magnetic resonance spectroscopy (Na-MR) and imaging technique (Na-MRI) at 9.4T for animals and 3T for humans to quantify Na content in skeletal muscle and skin. We compared Na-MRI data with actual tissue Na content measured by chemical analysis in...

Influenza neuraminidase (NA) proteins expressed in TK- cells infected with recombinant vaccinia virus carrying NA gene of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus or 2009 pandemic H1N1 (H1N1pdm) virus were characterized for their biological properties, i.e., cell localization, molecular weight (MW), glycosylation and sialidase activity. Immune sera collected from BALB/c mice immunized with ...

Voltage-gated Na(+) channels (Na(+) channels) mediate the rising phase of action potentials in neurons and excitable cells. Nine subtypes of the alpha subunit (Na(v)1.1-Na(v)1.9) have been shown to form functional Na(+) channels to date. Recently, anesthetic concentrations of volatile anesthetics and ethanol were reported to inhibit Na(+) channel functions, but it is not known whether all subty...

beta-Agonists cause an inhibition of contractility and a transient stimulation of Na+/K+ pumping in smooth muscle cells of the stomach from the toad Bufo marinus. To determine if the stimulation of Na+/K+ pumping causes changes in intracellular [Na+] ([Na+]i) that might link Na+ pump stimulation to decrease Ca2+ availability for contraction, [Na+]i was measured in these cells with SBFI, a Na(+)...

Background: Polarized cells are key to the process of differentiation. Xenopus oocyte is a polarized cell that has complete blue-print to differentiate 3 germ layers following fertilization, as key determinant molecules (Proteins and RNAs) are asymmetrically localized. The objective of this work was to localize Na+, K+-ATPase activity along animal-vegetal axis of polarized Xenopus oocyte and fo...

Although the phenotypes of many membrane-excitation mutants of Paramecium are best expressed in Na+-containing solutions, little is known about the role of Na+ in membrane excitation in Paramecium. By measuring 22Na fluxes, we have shown that: (a) The total cellular Na+ content is equivalent to a cytoplasmic concentration of 3--4 mM, if the Na+ concentration is uniform throughout the cell. (b) ...

Since phosphonoformic acid (PFA) acts as a specific competitive inhibitor of Na+-Pi co-transport across renal brush-border membrane (BBM), we employed the [14C]PFA as a probe to determine the mechanism of its interaction with rat renal BBM. The binding of [14C]PFA to BBM vesicles (BBMV), with Na+ present in extravesicular medium (Na+o), was time- and temperature-dependent. The replacement of Na...