Abstract
Many voltage-dependent channels open transiently when activated by a sudden change in voltage. This transient behavior presents a particular problem in studying channels with single-channel recording because it cannot be studied with the membrane potential held constant. Methods for the analysis of channel opening and closing at a constant membrane potential are described in several other chapters in this volume. In this chapter, we discuss the analysis of single-channel data from experiments in which the membrane potential is suddenly changed and the probabilities of the channel occupying particular conformational states change from one distribution to another. This approach is essential for studying channels that inactivate, but it also complements the usual methods for studying other channels and gives information that is difficult or impossible to obtain otherwise.
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