protocol of membrane sweeping

Digestive vacuole (DV) formation in Paramecium can be separated into four steps: sequestration and recycling of the spent DV membrane, sweeping and concentrating of particles into the nascent DV, vacuole growth, and the release of the nascent DV. How the size, load and surface charge of solid particles affected formation and subsequently the digestive processes in log-phase cells were investigated. Pulsing cells continuously with beads resulted in an initial linear increase, followed by a steady state, of labelled DVs...

1. Unitary Na+ channel currents were recorded from isolated guinea-pig ventricular myocytes using the cell-attached patch-clamp technique with high [Na+] in the pipette to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. 2. The probability that the channel enters the inactivated state (I) directly from resting states (C) was investigated over a wide range of membrane potentials. 3. At membrane potentials of -60 mV or more positive, Markov chain theory was used to estimate the probability of C----I from histograms of the number of channel openings per depolarizing period...

1. We investigated the currents through L-type Ca2+ channels when Ca2+ (1-10 mM) was the charge carrier, as is the case physiologically. 2. Na+ was removed from both the external and internal solutions to eliminate currents through Na+ channels and Na(+)-Ca2+ exchange. 3. From a holding potential of -50 mV only L-type channels were available to open with depolarization. Macroscopic L-type currents were maximal during depolarizing pulses to +10 mV (peak current density of 4.7 +/- 0.3 nA nF-1). 4. During depolarizing steps as long as 180 ms, the decay of current through L-type channels was incomplete, in contrast to that of T-type current...