Search results for "membrane potentials"
showing 10 items of 149 documents
Effects of Cortical Spreading Depression on Cortical Blood Flow, Impedance, DC Potential, and Infarct Size in a Rat Venous Infarct Model
2000
A cortical venous infarction model has been evaluated as to the degree of regional flow reduction and by studying effects of cortical spreading depression (CSD). Two adjacent cortical veins were occluded photochemically with rose bengal and fiberoptic illumination. Seven rats served to demonstrate effects on regional cortical blood flow using laser Doppler scanning. In 36 rats local CBF, DC potential, and brain tissue impedance were measured continuously for 75 min after vein occlusion. No, 3, or 10 CSD waves were induced by potassium chloride injection during the initial 75 min. Rats were compared for spontaneous CSDs; baseline local CBF, CBF, and impedance response to CSD; and infarct vol…
Depolarization-induced influx of sodium in response to phenylephrine in rat atrial heart muscle.
1991
1. The effects of alpha 1-adrenoceptor stimulation on transmembrane potential, currents and ion fluxes were investigated in multicellular preparations and/or single cells obtained from the left atrium of rat hearts. 2. In multicellular preparations, phenylephrine caused a concentration-dependent positive inotropic effect, an increase in action potential duration, and a decrease in resting potential; the effects were antagonized by phentolamine. 3. In the presence of phenylephrine (100 mumol/1), two levels of resting potential were observed when the preparations were, alternately, electrically stimulated or kept at rest (-74 +/- 1 mV during activity and -62 +/- 4 mV at rest; mean +/- S.E.M.;…
Wasp venom injected into the prey's brain modulates thoracic identified monoaminergic neurons.
2005
The wasp Ampulex compressa injects a cocktail of neurotoxins into the brain of its cockroach prey to induce an enduring change in the execution of locomotory behaviors. Our hypothesis is that the venom injected into the brain indirectly alters the activity of monoaminergic neurons, thus changing the levels of monoamines that tune the central synapses of locomotory circuits. The purpose of the present investigation was to establish whether the venom alters the descending control, from the brain, of octopaminergic neurons in the thorax. This question was approached by recording the activity of specific identified octopaminergic neurons after removing the input from the brain or after a wasp s…
Physical-mechanical effects of Nd:YAG laser on the surface of sound dental enamel.
1993
Human dental enamel samples were irradiated using a 5 kHz Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser. An increase in Knoop microhardness and modification of the membrane permselectivity were detached. These results and the changes observed by SEM, can be connected with the fusion of the enamel surface.
Effect of Organic Tin Compounds on Electric Properties of Model Membranes
2006
The objective of the present work was to investigate the effect of selected organic tin compounds and potassium chloride (used as a reference substance) on the trans-membrane electric voltage and electric resistance of model membranes, the latter being nitrocellulose filters impregnated with butylene ester of lauric acid. The increasing KCl concentration (in the measurement chambers) caused a rapid rise of the negative trans-membrane voltage, whose value stabilized afterwards. In the case of (C3H7)3SnCl an abrupt maximum of the negative voltage was observed followed by a monotonic drop to zero. In the case of highest concentrations of this compound the voltages, after having reached zero, c…
Ion conduction in the KcsA potassium channel analyzed with a minimal kinetic model.
2004
We use a model by Nelson to study the current-voltage and conductance-concentration curves of bacterial potassium channel KcsA without assuming rapid ion translocation. Ion association to the channel filter is rate controlling at low concentrations, but dissociation and transport in the filter can limit conduction at high concentration for ions other than ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$. The absolute values of the effective rate constants are tentative but the relative changes in these constants needed to qualitatively explain the experiments should be of significance.
Regulation of Calcium Channel Activity by Lipid Domain Formation in Planar Lipid Bilayers
2003
The sarcoplasmic reticulum channel (ryanodine receptor) from cardiac myocytes was reconstituted into planar lipid bilayers consisting of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE) and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) in varying ratios. The channel activity parameters, i.e., open probability and average open time and its resolved short and long components, were determined as a function of POPE mole fraction (X(PE)) at 22.4 degrees C. Interestingly, all of these parameters exhibited a narrow and pronounced peak at X(PE) approximately 0.80. Differential scanning calorimetric measurements on POPE/POPC liposomes with increasing X(PE) indicated that the lipid bilayer ente…
Membrane potential-dependent binding of polysialic acid to lipid monolayers and bilayers
2013
AbstractPolysialic acids are linear polysaccharides composed of sialic acid monomers. These polyanionic chains are usually membrane-bound, and are expressed on the surfaces of neural, tumor and neuroinvasive bacterial cells. We used toluidine blue spectroscopy, the Langmuir monolayer technique and fluorescence spectroscopy to study the effects of membrane surface potential and transmembrane potential on the binding of polysialic acids to lipid bilayers and monolayers. Polysialic acid free in solution was added to the bathing solution to assess the metachromatic shift in the absorption spectra of toluidine blue, the temperature dependence of the fluorescence anisotropy of DPH in liposomes, t…
Electrical Coupling in Ensembles of Nonexcitable Cells: Modeling the Spatial Map of Single Cell Potentials
2015
We analyze the coupling of model nonexcitable (non-neural) cells assuming that the cell membrane potential is the basic individual property. We obtain this potential on the basis of the inward and outward rectifying voltage-gated channels characteristic of cell membranes. We concentrate on the electrical coupling of a cell ensemble rather than on the biochemical and mechanical characteristics of the individual cells, obtain the map of single cell potentials using simple assumptions, and suggest procedures to collectively modify this spatial map. The response of the cell ensemble to an external perturbation and the consequences of cell isolation, heterogeneity, and ensemble size are also ana…
Membrane potential bistability in nonexcitable cells as described by inward and outward voltage-gated ion channels.
2014
The membrane potential of nonexcitable cells, defined as the electrical potential difference between the cell cytoplasm and the extracellular environment when the current is zero, is controlled by the individual electrical conductance of different ion channels. In particular, inward- and outward-rectifying voltage-gated channels are crucial for cell hyperpolarization/depolarization processes, being amenable to direct physical study. High (in absolute value) negative membrane potentials are characteristic of terminally differentiated cells, while low membrane potentials are found in relatively depolarized, more plastic cells (e.g., stem, embryonic, and cancer cells). We study theoretically t…