Single postsynaptic channel currents in tissue cultured muscle

Abstract

Some of the most compelling evidence for the existence of ionic channels in cell membranes comes from direct recording of quantised current jumps generated by the opening and closing of individual channels. Single-channel jumps have been extensively studied for lipid bilayer membranes doped with various channel-forming additives1. Recently agonist-induced single-channel currents were detected in denervated frog muscle by use of extracellular electrodes, which can isolate the current from a small area of membrane2. The current jumps provide a means for the direct test of many of the inferences about ionic channels which have come from electrical noise analysis3,4. In this report we present measurements of single-channel currents induced by the agonist carbamylcholine in tissue-cultured mammalian muscle. These measurements confirm the earlier noise studies on tissue culture preparations5,6. Recordings of single-channel currents induced by the agonist, suberyldicholine, in avian muscle are presented by Nelson and Sachs7.