Use-dependent block with tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin at frog Ranvier nodes. II. Extrinsic influence of cations

Use-dependent declines of Na+ currents in myelinated frog nerve fibres were measured during a train of depolarizing pulses in solutions containing tetrodotoxin (TTX) or saxitoxin (STX). The following effects of external monovalent (Na+), divalent (Ca2+, Mg2+) and trivalent (La3+) cations on use dependence were found: Increasing the Ca2+ concentration from 2 to 8 mM shifts its voltage dependence by 20 mV whereas no significant use-dependent decline occurred at 0.2 mM Ca2+. Doubling the external Na+ concentration in 0.2 mM Ca2+ solutions did not initiate phasic block. External Mg2+ ions induced a smaller, and La3+ ions a larger, use dependence. The time constants of the current decline were 4-fold greater in 1.08 mM La3+. The static block of Na+ currents by La3+ could be directly demonstrated by the relief of block during a train of pulses. The results are qualitatively explained by a toxin binding site at the Na+ channel whose affinity for TTX or STX depends on 1) the gating conformation of the channel, probably the inactivation and ii) the occupancy of a blocking site by di- or trivalent external cations.