The effects of phencyclidine (PCP) were studied on the electrogenic and chemosensitive properties of the neuromuscular junction of skeletal muscle as well as on the binding sites on the acetylcholine (AcCho) receptor and its ionic channel in the electric organ membranes of the electric ray. The directly elicited muscle twitch was markedly potentiated by prolonging the falling phase of the muscl...

Previous studies have suggested that the aspartic acid residue (D) at the third position is critical in determining the voltage polarity of fast V(j)-gating of Cx50 channels. To test whether another negatively charged residue (a glutamic acid residue, E) could fulfill the role of the D3 residue, we generated the mutant Cx50D3E. V(j)-dependent gating properties of this mutant channel were charac...

In comparison to the cellular basis of pacemaking, the electrical interactions mediating synchronization and conduction in the sinoatrial node are poorly understood. Therefore, we have taken a combined immunohistochemical and electrophysiological approach to characterize gap junctions in the nodal area. We report that the pacemaker myocytes in the center of the rabbit sinoatrial node express th...

ATP is a widely used extracellular signaling molecule. The mechanism of ATP release from cells is presently unresolved and may be either vesicular or channel-mediated. Erythrocytes release ATP in response to low oxygen or to shear stress. In the absence of vesicles, the release has to be through channels. Erythrocytes do not form gap junctions. Yet, here we show with immunohistochemical and ele...

introduction numerous studies have demonstrated the presence of potassium selective channels in membranes internal organelles. these channels are essential to a large variety of cellular processes including intracellular 2+ a signaling, protein recycling, charge neutralization and cell protection. in contrast to the sarcoplasmic reticulum + here potassium channels have been clearly identified, ...

A hybrid numerical scheme has been presented in this paper for channel flow simulation by coupling one-dimensional and two-dimensional models. Both 1D and 2D differential equations have been discretized by applying the finite volume cell-centered method in a collocated grid system and solved along channel axis for all sections and elements. Due to truncation, dissipation and round off errors, u...