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Biomedical subjects

A L Blatz

Publications and source records attributed to A L Blatz.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Block of neuronal chloride channels by tetraethylammonium ion derivatives.

The block by the symmetric tetraethylammonium (TEA) ion derivatives tetrapropylammonium (TPrA), tetrabutylammonium (TBA), and tetrapentylammonium (TPeA) ions of fast chloride channels in acutely dissociated rat cortical neurons was studied with the excised inside-out configuration of the patch-clamp technique. When applied to the intracellular membrane surface, all three of the quaternary ammonium compounds (QAs) induced the appearance of short-lived closed states in a manner consistent with a blocking mechanism where the blocker preferentially binds to the open kinetic state and completely blocks ion current through the channel. The drug must leave the channel before the channel can return to a closed state. The mechanism of block was studied using one-dimensional dwell-time analysis. Kinetic models were fit to distributions of open and closed interval durations using the Q-matrix approach. The blocking rate constants for all three of the QAs were similar with values of approximately 12-20 x 10(6) M-1s-1. The unblocking rates were dependent on the size or hydrophobicity of the QA with the smallest derivative, TPrA, inducing a blocked state with a mean lifetime of approximately 90 microseconds, while the most hydrophobic derivative, TPeA, induced a blocked state with a mean lifetime of approximately 1 ms. Thus, it appears as though quaternary ammonium ion block of these chloride channels is nearly identical to the block of many potassium channels by these compounds. This suggests that there must be structural similarities in the conduction pathway between anion and cation permeable channels.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Block of neuronal fast chloride channels by internal tetraethylammonium ions.

The classical potassium-selective ion channel blocker tetraethylammonium ion (TEA) was shown to block chloride-selective ion channels from excised surface membranes of acutely dissociated rat cortical neurons when applied to the formerly intracellular membrane surface. The patch voltage clamp method was used to record single channel currents from fast Cl channels in the presence of TEAi. At the filtering cut-off frequencies used (3-12.4 kHz, -3 dB) the TEAi-induced block appeared as a reduction in single channel current amplitude, which was interpreted as the result of extremely fast on the off rates for the blocking reaction. Under the conditions of these experiments, the magnitude of TEAi block was independent of membrane potential. Analysis of dose-response experimental results suggests that TEA binding resulted in a partial block of these channels with an equilibrium dissociation constant of approximately 12-15 mM. Analysis of amplitude distributions in the absence and presence of TEAi using the method of Yellen (1994. Journal of General Physiology. 84:157-186.) produced a similar equilibrium dissociation constant and provided a blocking rate constant of approximately 16,000 mM-1.s-1 and an unblocking rate constant of approximately 200,000 s-1. The distributions of open and closed interval durations were fit with a blocking scheme where TEAi binds to the open kinetic state with the constraint that the channel must reenter the open state before TEA can dissociate. The increase in the mean lifetime of the open state could be well fit by this model, but the distribution of closed interval durations could not, suggesting a more complex underlying blocking mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Subtypes of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons revealed by apamin: autoradiographic and electrophysiological studies.

In the intact animal, some substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons exhibit regular, and some exhibit burst firing patterns. In the in vitro slice preparation, however, all dopaminergic neurons exhibit a nonburst firing pattern. Burst firing patterns are thought to be regulated, in part, by a small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel (SK channels). To test whether SK channels reside within the midbrain dopaminergic cell regions of the mouse, receptor autoradiographic experiments were conducted with the SK channel antagonist, 125I-apamin. To determine whether SK channels play a role in burst firing pattern generation in substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons, changes in firing patterns of these cells were examined in the in vitro slice preparation following apamin superfusion (1-1000 nM). It was demonstrated that a) specific binding of radiolabeled apamin was found within the dopaminergic cell regions of the substantia nigra pars compacta, and ventral tegmental area (2.7-4.7 fmol/mg tissue); b) the firing patterns of less than half of the dopaminergic neurons were changed from a regular pattern to that of a burster with concentrations as low as 1 nM, but the firing patterns of many neurons were not changed by the drug; and c) blockade of the SK channel did not interfere with the inhibitory effects of dopamine on dopaminergic neuronal impulse flow, indicating that the known hyperpolarizing effects mediated by this dopamine receptor are not importantly mediated via the SK channel.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1992

Voltage-dependent block of fast chloride channels from rat cortical neurons by external tetraethylammonium ion.

Tetraethylammonium ion (TEA) and its longer chain derivatives have been used extensively to block currents through K-selective ion channels. Substantial information has been gained about the structure and gating mechanisms of K and other cation channels from the analysis of the blocking interactions of TEA and other quaternary ammonium ions. We now present an analysis of blocking interactions between single Cl-selective ion channels from acutely dissociated rat cortical neurons and externally applied TEA. TEA applied to the extracellular membrane surface (TEAo) blocked Cl channels in a voltage-dependent manner, with hyperpolarizing potentials favoring block. The voltage dependence of block could be adequately fit assuming that TEA enters the channel pore and binds to a site located approximately 28% of the way through the membrane electrical field. The dose-response relationship between fractional current and [TEA]o at a fixed holding potential of -40 mV was well fit to a simple model with two blocking sites with dissociation constants (Kd) of approximately 2 and 70 mM. The dose-response relationship could also be fit by a mechanism where TEA only partially blocks the channels. At the bandwidth used in these experiments (1-2 kHz), both the mean open duration (composed of the open and blocked durations) and burst duration (composed of open, blocked, and short lifetime shut durations) increased with increased [TEA]o. This is expected if TEAo can bind and unbind only when the channel is in the open kinetic state. These results suggest that the structure of the permeability pathway of these anion-selective channels may be very similar to that of other channels that are blocked by TEA. Additionally, these results caution that a blocking effect by TEA cannot, by itself, be used as sufficient evidence for implicating the participation of K channels in a particular process.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Properties of single fast chloride channels from rat cerebral cortex neurons.

1. Properties of Cl- channels from surface membranes of acutely dissociated rat cerebral cortical neurons were studied with the patch clamp technique. These channels were present in the majority of excised inside-out membrane patches. 2. Cl- channels were rarely observed in cell-attached membrane patches, and usually several minutes elapsed following excision of the patch before Cl- channels became active. 3. Under asymmetric ionic conditions (1000 mM-KCli, 140 mM-KClo), neuronal Cl- channels are fairly selective for Cl- over K+ and Na+, with permeability ratios, determined by reversal potential shifts of 4.8 for both PCl/PK and PCl/PNa. 4. Neuronal Cl- channel kinetic activity remained stable over periods of time long enough to collect up to 500,000 open and closed intervals. Occasionally, the channels entered altered modes of activity. In the 'buzz mode' the open and closed interval durations became much shorter than normal for several hundreds of intervals. In the 'subconductance mode' the channel opened to a current level about two-thirds of the normal level. 5. Using the method of maximum likelihood, sums of exponentials were fitted to the distributions of open and closed interval durations. Open interval distributions required at least two exponential components with time constants of less than 1 ms. At least six or seven exponential components were required to fit the closed interval distributions with time constants ranging from 30 microseconds to several hundreds of milliseconds. This suggests that neuronal Cl- channels enter at least two open and six or seven closed kinetic states during normal activity. 6. Cl- channels often entered long-duration closed states of several minutes which could not be accounted for by the sums of exponentials fitted to the distribution of closed interval durations. 7. Neuronal Cl- channels exhibit a marked voltage dependence with the percentage of time the channels are open increasing with depolarization. Most of the observed voltage dependence can be accounted for by a decrease in the mean closed interval duration with depolarization. The mean open interval was relatively independent of voltage. 8. These results suggest a high degree of similarity in kinetic behaviour and conductance properties between the fast Cl- channels of tissue-cultured rat skeletal muscle and fast Cl- channels in acutely dissociated rat cerebral cortical neurons.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Adjacent interval analysis distinguishes among gating mechanisms for the fast chloride channel from rat skeletal muscle.

1. The durations of adjacent open and shut intervals, obtained with the patch-clamp technique from fast Cl- channels in tissue-cultured rat skeletal muscle, were analysed to distinguish among eight previously considered gating mechanisms for the channel which differed in the connections among the states. 2. Open intervals were separated into groups based on the duration of the shut intervals which occurred before or after each open interval. Fitting these conditional open distributions with sums of exponentials indicated that they were described by two exponential components. 3. The time constants of the two components in the conditional open distributions were independent of the adjacent shut interval durations. The observation of invariant time constants is consistent with gating mechanisms in which the rate constants for transitions among the states remain constant with time (discrete Markov process). 4. In contrast to the invariant time constants, the areas of the two components in the conditional open distributions were dependent on the adjacent shut interval durations. The area of the fast open component increased, and the area of the slow open component decreased, as the duration of adjacent shut intervals increased. Thus, it is changes in areas, rather than time constants, which give rise to the observed inverse relationship between the durations of adjacent open and shut intervals. 5. The findings in summary statements 2-4 indicate that at least two open states are connected by independent pathways to different shut states; the open state associated with the fast open component is connected to a shut state (or compound shut state) of longer effective lifetime, and the open state associated with the slow open component is connected to a shut state (or compound shut state) of briefer effective lifetime. 6. Seven of the eight previously considered gating mechanisms were rejected because they did not account for the observed relationships between the durations of adjacent open and shut intervals, when analysed in terms of either conditional open distributions or conditional mean open interval durations. 7. The seven rejected gating mechanisms also did not account for the observed correlations between interval durations, when analysed in terms of correlation coefficients. Adjacent interval and correlation analysis thus provided a means to distinguish among the gating mechanisms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Fractal models are inadequate for the kinetics of four different ion channels.

The gating kinetics of single ion channels have been well described by models which assume that channels exist in a number of discrete kinetic states, with the rate constants for transitions among the states remaining constant in time. In contrast to such discrete Markov models, it has recently been considered whether gating might arise from transitions among a continuum of states, with the effective rate constants for leaving the collections of states given by a fractal scaling equation (Liebovitch, L.S., J. Fischbarg, J.P. Koniarek, I. Todorova, and M. Wang. 1987. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 896:173-180; Liebovitch, L.S., and J.M. Sullivan. 1987. Biophys. J. 52:979-988). The present study compares discrete Markov with fractal continuum models to determine which best describes the gating kinetics of four different ion channels: GABA-activated Cl channels, ACh-activated end-plate channels, large conductance Ca-activated K (BK) channels, and fast Cl channels. Discrete Markov models always gave excellent descriptions of the distributions of open and shut times for all four channels. Fractal continuum models typically gave very poor descriptions of the shut times for all four channels, and also of the open times from end-plate and BK channels. The descriptions of the open times from GABA-activated and fast Cl channels by the fractal and Markov models were usually not significantly different. If the same model accounts for gating motions in proteins for both the open and shut states, then the Markov model ranked above the fractal model in 35 of 36 data sets of combined open and shut intervals, with the Markov model being tens to thousands of orders of magnitude more probable. We suggest that the examined fractal continuum model is unlikely to serve as a general mechanism for the gating of these four ion channels.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Sampling, log binning, fitting, and plotting durations of open and shut intervals from single channels and the effects of noise.

(1) Analysis of the durations of open and shut intervals measured from single channels currents provides a means to investigate the mechanisms of channel gating. Durations of open and shut intervals are conveniently measured from single channel data by using a threshold level to indicate transitions between open and shut states. This paper presents a detailed characterization of sampling, binning, and noise errors associated with 50% threshold analysis, provides criteria to reduce these errors, methods to correct for them, and presents an efficient means of data handling for binning and plotting interval durations. (2) Measuring interval durations by sampling at a fixed rate introduces two types of errors, (a) the number of intervals of a given measured duration are increased (promoted) over that expected in the absence of sampling, producing a sampling promotion error, (b) sampling decreases the total fraction of true intervals that are detected, producing a sampling detection error. Sampling errors can be reduced to negligible levels if the actual or effective (after interpolation) sampling period is less than 10-20% of both the dead time and fastest time constant in the distribution of intervals. Dead time is given by the duration of a true interval that has a filtered amplitude equal to 50% of the true amplitude. (3) Methods are presented to correct for sampling promotion error during least squares and maximum likelihood fitting. Sampling detection error is more difficult to correct, but an empirical description of the sampling detection error can be used to calculate the effective fraction of detected events with sampling. (4) Noise in the single channel current record can produce two types of error. (a) If noise peaks in the absence of channel activity exceed the threshold for detection, then false channel events of brief duration are produced. Sufficient filtering will prevent this type of error. (b) Noise can also increase the total fraction of true intervals that are detected, producing a noise detection error. Increased filtering over that required to prevent false events is not necessarily the best method for reducing noise detection error, as increased filtering can prevent detection of the faster exponential components. (5) Noise detection error can be reduced in two ways: (a) an empirical description of the noise detection error can be used to calculate the effective fraction of detected events in the presence of noise. (b) The sampling period can be selected so that the sampling detection error cancels the noise detection error.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Correcting single channel data for missed events.

Interpretation of currents recorded from single ion channels in cellular membranes or lipid bilayers is complicated by the necessarily limited time resolution of the recording and detection systems. All intervals less than a certain duration, depending on the frequency response of the system, are not detected. Such missed events produce increases in the durations of observed open and shut intervals. In order to obtain the true kinetic scheme and rate constants underlying the observed activity, it is necessary to take into account missed events. We develop methods to correct for missed events for models with two or more states, including models with multiple open and shut states, compound states, and loops. Our methods can be used in a forward direction to predict observed distributions of open and shut intervals for a given kinetic scheme and time resolution. They can also be used in a backwards direction with iterative methods to determine rate constants consistent with the observed distributions. While a given kinetic scheme with rate constants predicts unique observed distributions of open and shut intervals, rate constants determined from observed distributions are not necessarily unique. Using these correction methods, we examine the effects of missed events for a five-state model consistent with some properties of large conductance Ca-activated K channels.

Ion Channels↗
PubMed1986

Quantitative description of three modes of activity of fast chloride channels from rat skeletal muscle.

The steady-state kinetic properties of single Cl- channels with fast kinetics active at resting membrane potentials in cultured rat skeletal muscle were studied using the patch-clamp technique. Membrane patches containing single active Cl- channels were often observed, and binomial analysis of the percentage open time in membrane patches containing several Cl- channels indicated that the channels did not occur as obligatory dimers and that they gated independently of one another. Channel activity could be divided into three categories: normal, which included about 99% of the openings and closings; buzz mode, which included about 1% and consisted of bursts of about 50 brief open and shut intervals; and inactivated shut states which included about 0.01% of the shut intervals and lasted for seconds, and occasionally minutes. The method of maximum likelihood was used to determine the number of significant exponential components required to fit the distributions of open and shut intervals during normal activity. Open interval distributions required at least two components, with time constants of 0.52 and 1.5 ms at -40 mV and 7.6 degrees C. Shut interval distributions required at least five exponential components, with time constants of 0.064, 0.72, 1.9, 12.3 and 350 ms. Kinetic reaction schemes were developed for the normal and buzz mode using maximum likelihood techniques to determine the most likely models and rate constants. In developing these models the effects of limited time resolution and missed events were taken into account. Each model tested typically had two or more sets of equally likely rate constants. Incorrect sets of rate constants resulting from the effect of missed events could be eliminated by analysis of the data with different time resolutions. Normal activity could be accounted for by several different seven-state models with two open and five shut states. As different models could be found that gave identical descriptions of the data, the distributions of open and shut intervals were not sufficient to define a unique model. It was established that no other seven-state models would be found that describe the distributions of open and shut intervals during normal activity better than the most likely presented models.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1985

Single chloride-selective channels active at resting membrane potentials in cultured rat skeletal muscle.

The patch-clamp technique was used to characterize channels that could contribute to the resting Cl-conductance in the surface membrane of cultured rat skeletal muscle. Two Cl- -selective channels, in addition to the Cl- -selective channel of large conductance described previously (Blatz and Magleby, 1983), were observed. One of these channels had fast kinetics and a conductance of 45 +/- 1.8 pS (SE) in symmetrical 100 mM KCl. The other had slow kinetics and a conductance of 61 +/- 2.4 pS. The channel with fast kinetics typically closed within 1 ms after opening and flickered between the open and shut states. The channel with slow kinetics typically closed within 10 ms after opening and displayed less flickering. Both channels were active in excised patches of membrane held at potentials similar to resting membrane potentials in intact cells, and both were open a greater percentage of time with depolarization. Under conditions of high ion concentrations, both channels exhibited nonideal selectivity for Cl- over K+ with the permeability ratio PK/PCl of 0.15-0.2. Additional experiments on the fast Cl- channel indicated that its activity decreased with lowered pHi and that SO2-4 and CH3SO-4 were ineffective charge carriers. These findings, plus the observation that the fast Cl- channel was also active in membrane patches on intact cells, suggest that the fast Cl- channel provides a molecular basis for at least some of the resting Cl- conductance. The extent to which the slow Cl- channel contributes is less clear as it was typically active only after excised patches of membrane had been exposed to high concentrations of KCl at the inner membrane surface.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Asymmetric proton block of inward rectifier K channels in skeletal muscle.

Inward rectifier and delayed rectifier K currents were measured in frog skeletal muscle fibers with the vaseline gap voltage clamp technique as internal or external pH were lowered. Inward rectifier currents were only slightly reduced by low external pH but were completely and reversibly blocked when the internal pH was reduced to below 5.5 either by cutting the fiber ends in low pH solutions or by bathing the fiber exterior with permeant acetate buffers at low pH. The steepness of the pH dependence of this block suggests that more than one and perhaps three hydrogen ions are required to bind to the blocking site. The voltage dependence of inward rectifier gating was not shifted by low external pH. Either these channels are not located near the fixed negatively charged groups which apparently alter the voltage sensed by many other ionic channels or the membrane potential drop and the external [K+] are altered in a compensating manner such that the driving force on K+ (upon which inward rectification depends) remains unchanged. In contrast, delayed rectifier channels were blocked and their kinetics dramatically shifted by lowering external pH.

Acetates↗
PubMed1984

Ion conductance and selectivity of single calcium-activated potassium channels in cultured rat muscle.

The conductance and selectivity of the Ca-activated K channel in cultured rat muscle was studied. Shifts in the reversal potential of single channel currents when various cations were substituted for Ki+ were used with the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation to calculate relative permeabilities. The selectivity was Tl+ greater than K+ greater than Rb+ greater than NH4+, with permeability ratios of 1.2, 1.0, 0.67, and 0.11. Na+, Li+, and Cs+ were not measurably permeant, with permeabilities less than 0.05 that of K+. Currents with the various ions were typically less than expected on the basis of the permeability ratios, which suggests that the movement of an ion through the channel was not independent of the other ions present. For a fixed activity of Ko+ (77 mM), plots of single channel conductance vs. activity of Ki+ were described by a two-barrier model with a single saturable site. This observation, plus the finding that the permeability ratios of Rb+ and NH+4 to K+ did not change with ion concentration, is consistent with a channel that can contain a maximum of one ion at any time. The empirically determined dissociation constant for the single saturable site was 100 mM, and the maximum calculated conductance for symmetrical solutions of K+ was 640 pS. TEAi+ (tetraethylammonium ion) reduced single channel current amplitude in a voltage-dependent manner. This effect was accounted for by assuming voltage-dependent block by TEA+ (apparent dissociation constant of 60 mM at 0 mV) at a site located 26% of the distance across the membrane potential, starting at the inner side. TEAo+ was much more effective in reducing single channel currents, with an apparent dissociation constant of approximately 0.3 mM.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1983

Single voltage-dependent chloride-selective channels of large conductance in cultured rat muscle.

Single-channel currents of an anion-selective channel in the plasma membrane of cultured rat muscle cells (myotubes) were recorded with the patch-clamp technique (Hamill, O.P., A. Marty, E. Neher, B. Sakmann, and F.J. Sigworth, 1981. Pfluegers Arch. Eur. J. Physiol., 391:85-100). The channel is selective for Cl- over cations, and has an unusually large single-channel conductance of approximately 430 pS in symmetrical 143 mM KCl. The channel is often active at 0 mV, opening and closing spontaneously. When active, steps from 0 mV to either negative or positive membrane potentials close the channel to an apparent inactivated state. The mean effective time that a channel is open before it inactivates is approximately 1.19 s for steps to -30 mV and 0.48 s for steps to +30 mV. Returning the membrane potential to 0 mV results in recovery from inactivation. Calcium ions are not required for channel activity.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Inverse relationship of the durations of adjacent open and shut intervals for C1 and K channels.

Ion channels in cell membranes, whether voltage-dependent or activated by ligands, make repeated transitions among open and shut states during activity. Information about the number of states and the transitional pathways between them can be obtained from the durations of open and shut intervals, as transitions to states of different lifetimes result in intervals of different mean durations. If there is only one open conformation, or state, then the durations of open intervals would be independent of the durations of adjacent shut intervals. On the other hand, if a channel has two or more open states with different mean lifetimes, and if each open state is entered directly from a different shut state with a different mean lifetime, then the open intervals should be related to the adjacent shut intervals. We now report that the durations of adjacent open and shut intervals for both a C1 channel and a large conductance Ca-activated K channel in skeletal muscle are inversely related; shorter open intervals are adjacent to longer shut intervals. These findings indicate that two or more shut states make direct transitions to two or more open states, and suggest that the lifetimes of adjacent open and shut states are inversely related.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Single apamin-blocked Ca-activated K+ channels of small conductance in cultured rat skeletal muscle.

Action potentials in many excitable cells are followed by a prolonged afterhyperpolarization that modulates repetitive firing. Although it is established that the afterhyperpolarization is produced by Ca-activated K+ currents, the basis of these currents is not known. The large conductance (250 pS) Ca-activated K+ channel (BK channel) is not a major contributor to the afterhyperpolarization in non-innervated skeletal muscle and some nerve cells, because apamin, a neurotoxic component of bee venom, abolishes the afterhyperpolarization but does not block BK channels, and 5 mM extracellular tetraethylammonium ion (TEA) blocks BK channels but does not reduce the afterhyperpolarization. We now report single-channel currents from small conductance (10-14 pS) Ca-activated K+ channels (SK channels) with the necessary properties to account for the afterhyperpolarization. SK channels are blocked by apamin but not by 5 mM external TEA (TEAo). They are also highly Ca-sensitive at the negative membrane potentials associated with the afterhyperpolarization.

Action Potentials↗