Abstract
The treatment of nodal membrane with water-soluble carbodiimide results in a deceleration of the time-course of activation and inactivation of Na+ channels and in a decrease in the steepness of the voltage-dependence of the channel gating. The effective charge of activation decreases from about 5 to 3 electronic charges. Carbodiimide is effective only at low (4.3-4.9) pH, which means that it reacts most probably with carboxyl groups. The data are consistent with the proposal that carboxyl groups may serve as 'gating particles'.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 288-292 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | BBA - Biomembranes |
Volume | 774 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 25 1984 |
Keywords
- (R. riribunda)
- Carbodiimide
- Gating charge
- Ion channel
- Na channel
- Nerve membrane
- Voltage clamp
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology