Hodgkin-Huxley analysis of whole-cell outward rectifying K(+)-currents in protoplasts from tobacco cell suspension cultures.

The voltage and time dependence of outward-rectifying K+ currents (IK,out) measured in protoplasts from tobacco cell suspension cultures in the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique are quantitatively analyzed. The voltage and time dependence was described according to the Hodgkin and Huxley model for IK,out currents in the squid giant axon, and to allow comparison, in analogy with the quantitative analysis of IK,out currents in Vicia faba guard cell protoplasts as described by Schroeder (J. Membrane Biol., 107:229-235, 1989). The IK,out from tobacco could be described by a similar model as the IK,out from guard cell protoplasts (i.e., sigmoid activation time course, activation variable raised to second power, single exponential deactivating tail currents, absence of inactivation). However, in contrast to guard cells, both the activation and deactivation time constants were strongly voltage dependent in tobacco protoplasts. The voltage dependence of the transition rates for channel opening and channel closing was slightly asymmetrical and inverse to the asymmetry found in guard cells. The data presented show that the voltage-dependent kinetic properties of the IK,out conductance of tobacco protoplasts are different from these properties in guard cell protoplasts. This analysis provides a basis for the study of IK,out conductance function and modulation.