A calcium-dependent transient outward current in <i>Xenopus laevis</i> oocytes

Abstract

Membrane currents were investigated in Xenopus laevis oocytes under voltage clamp. Depolarizing pulses, given from a holding potential of about-100 mV, elicited a transient outward current when the membrane potential was made more positive than about-20 mV. As the potential was made increasingly positive the transient outward current first increased and then decreased. The amplitude of the transient current increased when the external Ca2+ concentration was raised; and the current was abolished by Mn2+. It appears that when the membrane is depolarized Ca2+ ions enter the oocyte and trigger an outward current, possibly by opening C1- channels.