The timing of channel opening during miniature end-plate currents

Abstract

Many chemical transmitters act by opening channels with exponentially distributed life-times. We present a way to analyze a synaptic current in terms of its component channels. We can estimate the numbers and times of channel opening within the synaptic current. This approach is used to study miniature end-plate currents (m.e.p.c.s) at the frog neuromuscular junction. The results support the idea that some transmitter rebinds after dissociation from post-synaptic receptors, and suggest that the time of channel closing is related to the time at which acetylcholine leaves the receptor.