Predominance of poorly reopening single Na+ channels and lack of slow Na+ inactivation in neonatal cardiocytes

Summary Elementary Na⁺ currents through single cardiac Na⁺ channels were recorded at –50 mV in cell-attached patches from neonatal rat cardiocytes kept at holding potentials between –100 and –120 mV.Na⁺ channel activity may occur as burst-like, closely-timed repetitive openings with shut times close to 0.5–0.6 msec, indicating that an individual Na⁺ channel may reopen several times during step depolarization. A systematic quantiative analysis in 19 cell-attached patches showed that reopening may be quite differently pronounced. The majority, namely 16 patches, contained Na⁺ channels with a low tendency to reopen. This was evidenced from the average value for the mean number of openings per sequence, 2.5. Strikingly different results were obtained in a second group of three patches. Here, a mean number of openings per sequence of 3.42, 3.72, and 5.68 was found. Ensemble averages from the latter group of patches revealed macroscopic Na⁺ currents with a biexponential decay phase. Reconstructed Na⁺ currents from patches with poorly reopening Na⁺ channels were devoid of a slow decay component. This strongly suggests that reopening may be causally related to slow Na⁺ inactivation. Poorly pronounced reopening and, consequently, the lack of slow Na⁺ inactivation could be characteristic features of neonatal cardiac Na⁺ channels.