Single-channel activity induced in mitoplasts by alkaline pH

Abstract

Exposure of patch-clamped mitoplasts to alkaline pH induces a reversible conductance increase (Antonenko, Yu. N., Kinnally, K.W. and Tedeschi, H. (1991) J. Membr. Biol. 124, 151-158) which is due to an increase in open probability of a channel activity of 15 pS and larger transitions. The present study defines in more detail some of the characteristics of the channel activity involved in this conductance increase. The results suggest the presence of two channels one slightly cation-selective of approx. 15 pS (referred to here as alkaline-induced cation-selective activity, ACA) and another slightly anion selective of approx. 45 pS (referred to as alkaline-induced anion-selective activity, AAA). The possible implication of these results in relation to other channels and the permeability transitions reported by others using mitochondrial suspensions is discussed.