Influence of Charging Current and Potential Drop on the Propagation of the Change in the Membrane Potential

Abstract

Propagation of a change in a potential difference between two aqueous phases (W1 and W2) across a membrane was examined by using three membrane cells (A, B and C). At first, the cell A was electrically connected with the cell B by controlling the ionic compositions. By changing the connection with the cell A from the cell B to the cell C indicating the different membrane potential, the change of the membrane potential was propagated. The delay and decrement of the propagation was observed by setting capacitors or resistors in the electric circuit.

Electrochemical Interpretation of Propagation of the Change in the Membrane Potential Using the Goldman‐Hodgkin‐Katz Equation

“…When the surface of the nerve cell is divided into multiple domains, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the membrane potential and membrane current of each domain. Therefore, the authors’ group has conducted the interpretation of the propagation of the change in the membrane potential using an electrochemical cell system composed of several liquid‐membrane cells which are connected in parallel . It has been clarified that the change in the membrane potential is propagated by the generation of the circulating current through two liquid membrane sites (the potential‐sending and potential‐receiving sites) and that the magnitude of the circulating current determines the threshold to produce the change in the membrane potential by considering the electroneutrality and the mass‐balance of every phase .…”

“…Therefore, the authors' group has conducted the interpretation of the propagation of the change in the membrane potential using an electrochemical cell system composed of several liquid-membrane cells which are connected in parallel [17][18][19][20]. It has been clarified that the change in the membrane potential is propagated by the generation of the circulating current through two liquid membrane sites (the potential-sending and potential -1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 receiving sites) and that the magnitude of the circulating current determines the threshold to produce the change in the membrane potential by considering the electroneutrality and the mass-balance of every phase [17,21]. In addition, it was found that the ohmic drop generated by the resistor in the electric circuit decreased and slowed the propagation of the change in the membrane potential and that the charging current generated by the capacitor in the electric circuit delays the propagation analogous to the nerve transmission.…”

Influence of the Circulating Current on the Propagation of the Change in Membrane Potential

“…10 Accordingly, the magnitude of the imaginary limiting current at the W1|M interface of the potential-receiving cell (Rec and rec) corresponds to the threshold. In the present study, ilim, W1|M at the W1|M interface of the potential-sending cell (ilim, W1|M (ps)) can be approximately represented as Eq.…”

“…Taking into account the electroneutrality principle and the mass balance of electrolyte ions in every phase, the propagation of the action potential is caused by the generation of the circulating current between the sending and receiving sites. 9,10 On the other hand, it has been reported that the decrease and/or the delay in the propagation of the action potential are ascribed to the charging current at the membrane surface and to the ohmic drop due to the solution resistance, [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] and we interpreted the influence of the charging current and the ohmic drop on the propagation of the change in the membrane potential using some capacitors and resistors within the electric circuit. 10 However, the influence of the direction on the propagation of the action potential and the magnitude of the circulating current has not yet been explained.…”

Severe Problems of the Voltage‐Clamp Method in Concurrent Monitoring of Membrane Potentials

“…The authors' group has elucidated the propagation of the change in the membrane potential using a nervemodel-cell system with multiple liquid-membrane cells [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Several liquid-membrane cells were connected using a switch, multiple relay switches, and multiple timers within the electric circuit to mimic a function of K + and Na + channels [20,21].…”