Open AccessKinetic analysis of receptor-controlled tracer efflux from sealed membrane fragments
Author(s) -
Julius Bernhardt,
Eberhard Neumann
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.75.8.3756
Subject(s) - efflux , chemistry , biophysics , membrane , kinetics , receptor , tracer , activator (genetics) , biochemistry , biology , physics , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics
A detailed kinetic analysis is presented for activator-receptor-mediated efflux of tracer substances from vesicular membrane systems in general and from sealed fragments of excitable membranes in particular. Rate constants and amplitudes, as the primary measurable quantities of the efflux kinetics, are expressed in terms of fundamental properties of vesicular membrane systems containing receptors of chemical gating systems. The experimental determination and theoretical analysis of single contributions to a complex receptor-controlled efflux has been treated for the acetylcholine receptor system; also the effect of “pharmacological densensitization” on efflux is explicitly formulated. The dependence of the measured efflux parameters on the concentration of activators can be used to derive the kinetic and thermodynamic constants for receptor activation and inactivation processes; a general kinetic scheme and two limiting cases are analyzed. The efflux of22 Na from “excitable microsacs” ofTorpedo marmorata is treated as an example, and the power of the rigorous analytical method is demonstrated. In particular, the analysis of efflux amplitudes from only a few data points offers an alternative to the longer lasting measurements for obtaining efflux curves when a safety factor is involved, as in the case of tracer ions like22 Na.