Membrane current responses to intracellular injections of inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate and inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate in NG108-15 hybrid cells.

Iontophoretic injections of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate inside neuroblastoma X glioma NG108-15 hybrid cells evoked an outward K+ current across the outer cell membrane, probably activated by the release of intracellular Ca2+. No such current was produced by equivalent intracellular injections of inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate or inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. Instead, these compounds evoked an inward current with a reversal potential of about -20 mV, and which may therefore be due to a non-specific cation conductance. This suggests that these derivatives are unable to release sufficient Ca2+ to activate the Ca2+-dependent K+ current in these cells.