Quantal charge redistributions accompanying the structural transitions of sodium channels

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Abstract
Asymmetric displacement currents, I g , associated with the gating of nerve sodium channels have been recorded in cell-attached macropatches of Xenopus laevis oocytes injected with exogenous mRNA coding for rat-brain-II sodium channels. The I g properties were found to be similar to those of gating currents previously observed in native nerve preparations. I g fluctuations were measured in order to ascertain the discreteness of the conformational changes which precede the channel opening. The autocorrelation of the fluctuations is consistent with a shot-like character of the elementary I g contributions. The variance of the fluctuations indicates that most of the gating-charge movement that accompanies the activation of a single sodium channel occurs in 2 to 3 brief packets, each carrying an equivalent of about 2.3 electron charges.

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