Abstract
IN most cases where the action potential of nerve cells has been studied the initial inward current has been found to be carried by sodium ions. More recently calcium has been shown to be an important charge carrier in the inward current of vertebrate cardiac muscle, vertebrate smooth muscle and many nerve cell bodies1. It is therefore of interest to know whether the properties of the calcium conductance mechanism are similar to those which have been described for sodium conductance. An important property of the sodium conductance mechanism is its reduction or ‘inactivation’ by a conditioning depolarisation prior to an action potential and its increase by conditioning hyperpolarisation.
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STANDEN, N. Properties of a calcium channel in snail neurones. Nature 250, 340–342 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/250340a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/250340a0
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