Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 2420974 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Electrical properties of the nexal membrane studied in rat ventricular cell pairs.

The Journal of physiology ·Vol. 370 ·1986-01-00 ·Pages 267-84

Weingart R

Abstract

Cell pairs isolated from adult rat ventricles were used to characterize the electrical properties of the nexal membrane located between the cells. Each cell of a cell pair was connected to a suction pipette so as to enable whole-cell recordings. A double voltage-clamp method was employed which allowed the voltage gradient across the nexal membrane to be controlled. The current-voltage relationship of the nexal membrane was found to be linear over a broad range of transnexal voltages ( +/- 50 mV). The measurements revealed a mean value for the apparent nexal membrane resistance, rn(app), of 3.4 M omega. Taking into account the contribution of an uncompensated series resistance (access resistance), the effective nexal resistance, rn(eff), amounts to 1.7 M omega, approximately. The nexal membrane resistance was found to be insensitive to the sarcolemmal membrane potential, Vm (voltage range tested: -90 mV to +30 mV). The nexal membrane showed no rectifying property, i.e. it allows impulse transmission in both directions equally well. The connexons of the nexal membrane exhibited no time-dependent gating behaviour (time range investigated: 0.1-10 s).

MeSH Terms
Action Potentials Animals Heart/physiology In Vitro Techniques Ion Channels/physiology Membrane Potentials Rats Sarcolemma/physiology Time Factors Ventricular Function
Chemicals
Ion Channels
Authors & Affiliations
1 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Weingart R
References (53)
53 references, click to expand
  1. Electrotonic coupling in internally perfused crayfish segmented axons.
    J Physiol. 1981 Aug;317:509-18 PMID: 6796679
  2. Improved patch-clamp techniques for high-resolution current recording from cells and cell-free membrane patches.
    Pflugers Arch. 1981 Aug;391(2):85-100 PMID: 6270629
  3. Impulse propagation at the septal and commissural junctions of crayfish lateral giant axons.
    J Gen Physiol. 1961 Nov;45:267-308 PMID: 14005158
  4. Electric current flow in cell pairs isolated from adult rat hearts.
    J Physiol. 1985 Sep;366:177-95 PMID: 4057088
  5. The structural implications of the linear electrical properties of cardiac Purkinje strands.
    J Gen Physiol. 1970 Apr;55(4):524-47 PMID: 5435783
  6. Voltage clamp of the earthworm septum.
    Biophys J. 1984 Jan;45(1):147-50 PMID: 19431545
  7. Junctional intercellular communication: the cell-to-cell membrane channel.
    Physiol Rev. 1981 Oct;61(4):829-913 PMID: 6270711
  8. Permeable junctions.
    Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 1976;40:49-63 PMID: 1065540
  9. Propagation mechanisms in heart.
    Annu Rev Physiol. 1979;41:441-57 PMID: 373599
  10. Slow recovery from inactivation of inward currents in mammalian myocardial fibres.
    J Physiol. 1974 Aug;240(3):703-24 PMID: 4415790
  11. Studies of isolated adult rat heart cells: the surface morphology and the influence of extracellular calcium ion concentration on cellular viability.
    Tissue Cell. 1977;9(3):419-36 PMID: 201046
  12. Physiological and morphological evidence for coupling in mouse salivary gland acinar cells.
    J Cell Biol. 1978 Oct;79(1):20-6 PMID: 701371
  13. Electrical properties of individual cells isolated from adult rat ventricular myocardium.
    J Physiol. 1980 May;302:131-53 PMID: 6251204
  14. Electrical constants of trabecular muscle from mammalian heart.
    J Physiol. 1970 Nov;210(4):1041-54 PMID: 5501485
  15. [The action current of the myocardial fibers in oxygen deficiency].
    Pflugers Arch Gesamte Physiol Menschen Tiere. 1954;260(1):40-60 PMID: 13236475
  16. The resistance of the septum of the median giant axon of the earthworm.
    J Gen Physiol. 1977 May;69(5):517-36 PMID: 864430
  17. Intercellular coupling in frog heart muscle. Electrophysiological and morphological aspects.
    Pflugers Arch. 1983 Dec;399(4):321-35 PMID: 6607456
  18. Transmission at the giant motor synapses of the crayfish.
    J Physiol. 1959 Mar 3;145(2):289-325 PMID: 13642302
  19. Improved stereological techniques for studying myocardial cell growth: application to external sarcolemma, T system, and intercalated disks of rabbit and rat hearts.
    J Ultrastruct Res. 1978 Nov;65(2):119-34 PMID: 366168
  20. Conductance properties of single inwardly rectifying potassium channels in ventricular cells from guinea-pig heart.
    J Physiol. 1984 Feb;347:641-57 PMID: 6323703
  21. Electric current flow in a two-cell preparation from Chironomus salivary glands.
    J Physiol. 1984 Jan;346:599-619 PMID: 6699787
  22. Voltage independence of an electrotonic synapse.
    Biophys J. 1982 Jul;39(1):115-7 PMID: 7104446
  23. The electrical resistivity of cytoplasm.
    Biophys J. 1976 Sep;16(9):991-1001 PMID: 963211
  24. Cell-to-cell channels with two independently regulated gates in series: analysis of junctional conductance modulation by membrane potential, calcium, and pH.
    J Membr Biol. 1983;73(1):69-89 PMID: 6306241
  25. Ionic mobility in muscle cells.
    Science. 1969 Dec 5;166(3910):1297-8 PMID: 5350329
  26. Physiology of electrotonic junctions.
    Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1966 Jul 14;137(2):509-39 PMID: 5229812
  27. Prepotentials and unidirectional propagation in myocardium.
    Am J Physiol. 1961 Nov;201:873-80 PMID: 14449163
  28. Chemical and electrical synaptic connexions between cutaneous mechanoreceptor neurones in the central nervous system of the leech.
    J Physiol. 1969 Aug;203(3):591-609 PMID: 4319015
  29. The electrical constants of Purkinje fibres.
    J Physiol. 1952 Nov;118(3):348-60 PMID: 13000763
  30. Modulation by intracellular ATP and cyclic AMP of the slow inward current in isolated single ventricular cells of the guinea-pig.
    J Physiol. 1983 May;338:321-37 PMID: 6308246
  31. Characterization of the fast sodium current in isolated rat myocardial cells: simulation of the clamped membrane potential.
    J Physiol. 1982 Apr;325:301-15 PMID: 7108778
  32. Electrical coupling between cells in islets of Langerhans from mouse.
    J Membr Biol. 1984;77(1):1-14 PMID: 6321740
  33. A rectifying electrotonic synapse in the central nervous system of a vertebrate.
    J Gen Physiol. 1969 Feb;53(2):211-37 PMID: 4303657
  34. STUDIES ON AN EPITHELIAL (GLAND) CELL JUNCTION. I. MODIFICATIONS OF SURFACE MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY.
    J Cell Biol. 1964 Sep;22:565-86 PMID: 14206423
  35. The passive electrical properties of guinea-pig ventricular muscle as examined with a voltage-clamp technique.
    J Physiol. 1982 Sep;330:221-42 PMID: 7175743
  36. Monosynaptic chemical and electrical connexions between sensory and motor cells in the central nervous system of the leech.
    J Physiol. 1970 Aug;209(3):647-67 PMID: 5499801
  37. Electrical coupling between ventricular paired cells isolated from guinea-pig heart.
    J Physiol. 1983 Mar;336:345-57 PMID: 6875911
  38. Calcium and cardiac excitation-contraction coupling.
    Annu Rev Physiol. 1979;41:473-84 PMID: 373601
  39. A morphometric study on the nexus of rat cardiac muscle.
    J Cell Biol. 1973 Mar;56(3):690-6 PMID: 4687914
  40. Cell-to-cell communication in heart and other tissues.
    Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 1982;39(3):147-82 PMID: 6750688
  41. Sodium current in single rat heart muscle cells.
    J Physiol. 1981 Sep;318:479-500 PMID: 7320902
  42. Equilibrium properties of a voltage-dependent junctional conductance.
    J Gen Physiol. 1981 Jan;77(1):77-93 PMID: 6259274
  43. An analysis of the cable properties of frog ventricular myocardium.
    J Physiol. 1978 Oct;283:263-82 PMID: 309942
  44. Effect of intracellular injection of calcium and strontium on cell communication in heart.
    J Physiol. 1975 Sep;250(2):231-45 PMID: 1177142
  45. The functional organization within the ommatidium of the lateral eye of limulus.
    Prog Brain Res. 1969;31:313-49 PMID: 4310255
  46. Studies on the intercalated disk of rat left ventricular myocardial cells.
    J Ultrastruct Res. 1973 Jun;43(5):388-411 PMID: 4578328
  47. Effect of several uncouplers of cell-to-cell communication on gap junction morphology in mammalian heart.
    J Membr Biol. 1983;74(3):203-15 PMID: 6887233
  48. Electrical characteristics of tunicate heart cell membranes and nexuses.
    J Gen Physiol. 1968 Jul;52(1):46-59 PMID: 4913702
  49. Kinetic properties of a voltage-dependent junctional conductance.
    J Gen Physiol. 1981 Jan;77(1):95-117 PMID: 6259275
  50. A patch-clamp study of bovine chromaffin cells and of their sensitivity to acetylcholine.
    J Physiol. 1982 Oct;331:577-97 PMID: 6296371
  51. The potassium current underlying delayed rectification in cat ventricular muscle.
    J Physiol. 1978 Jan;274:217-46 PMID: 624994
  52. Properties of surface and junctional membranes of embryonic cells isolated from blastula stages of Xenopus laevis.
    J Physiol. 1975 Jun;248(1):97-120 PMID: 1151835
  53. Ion channels in cardiac cell membranes.
    Annu Rev Physiol. 1984;46:473-84 PMID: 6324658
Article Info
Journal
The Journal of physiology
Abbr.
J Physiol
ISSN
0022-3751
DOI
10.1113/jphysiol.1986.sp015934
Published
1986-01-00
Pages
267-84
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0266262
PMCID
PMC1192680
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1113/jphysiol.1986.sp015934 PMC Full Text View journal details
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: product@genelibs.com

Copyright © 2026.Genelibs Jinan Honghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. 鲁ICP备20007159号-2