More gating charges are needed to open a Shaker K+ channel than are needed to open an rBIIA Na+ channel.

ABSTRACT: This study presents what is, to our knowledge, a novel technique by means of which the ratio of the single gating charges of voltage-gated rat brain IIA (rBIIA) sodium and Shaker potassium ion channels was estimated. In the experiment, multiple tandems of enhanced green fluorescent protein were constructed and inserted into the C-terminals of Na(+) and K(+) ion channels. cRNA of Na(+) and K(+) ion channels was injected and expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. The two electrode voltage-clamp technique allowed us to determine the total gating charge of sodium and potassium ion channels, while a relative measure of the amount of expressed channels could be established on the basis of the quantification of the fluorescence intensity of membrane-bound channels marked by enhanced green fluoresce

SUBMITTER: Gamal El-Din TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2479606 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature