The sodium channel of excitable and non-excitable cells

Abstract

Excitation and conduction in the majority of excitable cells, as originally described in the squid axon, are initiated by a transient and highly selective increase of the membrane Na conductance, which allows this ion to move passively down its electrochemical gradient (Hodgkin & Katz, 1949; Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952). The term ‘Na channel’ was introduced to describe the mechanism involved in this conductance change (Hodgkin & Keynes, 1955).

Effects of veratridine on sodium currents and fluxes

“…In this context the reader may consult more recent reviews on this neurotoxin (Khodorov 1985;Brown 1988;Moczydlowski and Schild 1994); other excellent reviews on neurotoxins in general have also been published (e.g., Strichartz et al 1987;Hille 1992). The more easily available (although less effective) veratridine was widely used as a channel opener (see summaries by Villegas et al 1988;Catterall 1992).…”

Orientation and lateral mobility of cytochrome c on the surface of ultrathin lipid multilayer films

“…Membrane systems reconstituted from pure lipids and pure membrane proteins have proved to be valuable tools for establishing detailed information on the supramolecular organization of membrane systems such as those involved in biological electron transfer (e.g., photosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation [1][2][3][4][5]). Such structural information, coupled with functional information from these reconstituted membrane systems (e.g., investigation of transmembrane phenomena) has lead to greater understanding of the cellular energy conversion process (6)(7)(8).…”