Control of Extracellular Potassium Levels by Retinal Glial Cell K + Siphoning

Abstract

Efflux of K+ from dissociated salamander Muller cells was measured with ion-selective microelectrodes. When the distal end of an isolated cell was exposed to high concentrations of extracellular K+, efflux occurred primarily from the endfoot, a cell process previously shown to contain most of the K+ conductance of the cell membrane. Computer simulations of K+ dynamics in the retina indicate that shunting ions through the Muller cell endfoot process is more effective in clearing local increases in extracellular K+ from the retina than is diffusion through extracellular space.