Abstract
AbstractA method for simultaneous determination of membrane potential and intracellular concentrations of sodium, potassium and chloride in single nerve axons is described in detail. Only 3–5 × 10‐‐9 liter axoplasm is required for the ion analyzes and consequently it has been possible to take 2 samples from the same axon. This allows for a comparison of the intracellular ion compositions at different external conditions with good accuracy. The normal ion concentrations in crayfish giant axons are found to be (in mM ± S. E.) Na 17A k 0A, K 265 ± 1.8 and C1 12.7 ± 0.4, indicating that probably none of the ions is distributed in electrochemical equilibrium. It is also shown that the distributions of sodium and potassium are directly dependent on an ouabain sensitive metabolic pathway but that this does not seem to be the case for chloride.
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