[The electrophysiological characteristics of the plasma membrane of rat macrophages at rest and under exposure to ATP].

The application of ATP in micromolar concentrations to the macrophages results in a biphasic response in the form of the short-time depolarization followed by a rather long hyperpolarization, the corresponding inward and outward macroscopic currents being observed. The ATP-induced hyperpolarization is accompanied by changes in current kinetics, I/V-curves pattern and shifting in the reversal potential. Such changes may be explained by a supposition that ATP activates an additional fraction of potassium channels with characteristics other than those in cells with initially low value of membrane potential. The data available are suggestive that in resting cells the inward rectification potassium conductance may dominate, whereas during ATP-induced hyperpolarization a certain type of Ca(2+)-dependent potassium conductance prevails. A rather high membrane potential in some part of macrophages, not treated with ATP, may be attributed to the latter type of conductance.