Abstract
In excitable cells, ions permeate the cell membrane through ionic channels, some of which open and close in response to changes in the potential difference across the membrane. It has been supposed that this opening and closing (or gating) process is largely independent of the permeating ion. However, we show here that the gating of the resting potassium permeability of frog skeletal muscle depends on the species of ion which carries current across the membrane. The potassium permeability investigated allows K+ to move in across the membrane more easily than out1,2. This property is known as inward or anomalous rectification and is shared by cell membranes of skeletal muscle1–3, egg4 and certain other cells5–7. In both egg cells8 and skeletal muscle fibres9, the group IIIB metal ion T1+, which can replace K+ in several other systems in experimental conditions10–12, also permeates the inward rectifier. Indeed, Tl+ is more permeant than K+ (refs 8, 9). However, when Tl+ carries current inwards across the membrane, the inward rectifier inactivates over a brief period when the membrane is hyper-polarized, whereas when K+ carries current, the permeability increases with time under hyperpolarization.
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Stanfield, P., Ashcroft, F. & Plant, T. Gating of a muscle K+ channel and its dependence on the permeating ion species. Nature 289, 509–511 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/289509a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/289509a0
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