SOME ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCROSE-WASHED FROG SARTORIUS MUSCLE

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Abstract
Transmembrane potential measurements were carried out with microelectrodes in frog sartorius muscles washed in buffered sucrose solution. After an initial fall the potential returns to a level determined by the extracellular potassium concentration. After about 20 minutes of washing, the cells develop a response to carbon dioxide dissolved in the surrounding medium. Increasing the extracellular carbon dioxide concentration leads to a reversible fall in transmembrane potential. This appears to be a specific effect of carbon dioxide since lowering the pH in the absence of CO2 does not cause a significant potential change. It is postulated that this effect may be due to an efflux of bicarbonate ions.