The Voltage-regulated Sodium Channel from the Electroplax of Electrophorus electricus

Abstract

The basis of the electrical excitability exhibited by cells from nerve, muscle, and related tissues resides in the properties of complex membrane proteins that act as ion-selective conductance channels. An understanding of the events in the membrane governing the electrical behavior will require knowledge of the molecular structures and mechanisms of these ion channel proteins. The studies discussed here are focused on the voltage-regulated Na+ channel that mediates the early Na+ currents of the propagated action potential (Hodgkin and Huxley 1952; Almers 1978; Armstrong 1981; Cahalan 1981).