Further studies of activation-inactivation coupling in Myxicola axons. Insensitivity to changes in calcium concentration.

In Myxicola axons subjected to moderate depolarizations the sodium inactivation time constants obtained from the decay of sodium current during a maintained depolarizatin (TSh) are substantially smaller than inactivation time constants determined at the same potential from the effect of changes in the duration of conditioning prepulses (Tph). This report extends these observations to positive membrane potentials and demonstrates that for sufficiently large depolarizations TSh and Tph become comparable. The ratio of inactivation time constants, Tph/TSh, is unaffected by changes in [Ca++] provided total divalent cation concentration is maintained constant, while changes in total divalent ion concentrations produce simple voltage shifts comparable to those obtained from measurement of membrane sodium or potassium conductances. Sodium inactivation delay was quantitatively determined as a function of membrane potential, and found to be similarly unaffected by changes in [Ca++] at constant total divalent ion concentration. Inactivation delay is, however, directly proportional to the activation rate constant over a wide range of potentials.