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An upper limit to the number of sodium channels in nerve membrane?
Author(s) -
Moore J. W.,
Narahashi T.,
Shaw T. I.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.1967.sp008126
Subject(s) - tetrodotoxin , axon , sodium , sodium channel , anatomy , chemistry , biophysics , toxin , biology , biochemistry , organic chemistry
1. A small volume of artificial sea water containing 300 n M tetrodotoxin (TTX) was applied successively to seven lobster nerve trunks and the cumulative uptake of toxin investigated by bio‐assay. 2. Light and electron microscopy indicated that the nerve trunks had a total axonal area of 0·7 × 10 4 cm 2 /g. 3. Sodium analysis gave a sodium space for the nerve trunks of 30%. 4. The amount of toxin taken up by the cells in 1 g of nerve is less than 1·6 × 10 −11 moles. 5. It is argued that there are probably fewer than 13 sodium channels/μ 2 axon in lobster nerve.