Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1987 Jan;325(7000):156-9.
doi: 10.1038/325156a0.

Ohmic conductance through the inwardly rectifying K channel and blocking by internal Mg2+

H Matsuda, A Saigusa, H Irisawa

Ohmic conductance through the inwardly rectifying K channel and blocking by internal Mg2+

H Matsuda et al. Nature. 1987 Jan.

Abstract

The inwardly rectifying K channel provides the resting K conductance in a variety of cells. This channel acts as a valve or diode, permitting entry of K+ under hyperpolarization, but not its exit under depolarization. This behaviour, termed inward rectification, permits long depolarizing responses which are of physiological significance for the pumping function of the heart and for fertilization of egg cells. Little is known about the outward currents through the inwardly rectifying K channel, despite their great physiological importance, and the mechanism of inward rectification itself is unknown. We have used improved patch clamp techniques to control the intracellular media, and have recorded the outward whole-cell and single-channel currents. We report here that the channel conductance is ohmic and that the well-known inward rectification of the resting K conductance is caused by rapid closure of the channel accompanied by a voltage-dependent block by intracellular Mg2+ ions at physiological concentrations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources