[Transient currents and Ca2+ gradient relaxation in characean algae cells: theory and experiment]

Transient Ca2+ and Ca2+-dependent Cl- currents of plasmatic membranes of voltage-clamped Chara corallina freshwater alga cells were studied. Our earlier described method was used for rapid (approximately 10 ms) injection of Ca2+ ions into the cell during the deactivation period of calcium channels following their activation by a positive voltage pulse (injection by "tail" Ca2+ current). This procedure allowed one to determine the amplitude of the Ca2+ component, as well as the amplitude and kinetics of the submembrane Ca2+ concentration-dependent Cl- component for the transient current. Calculations based on the cell model allowing for Ca2+ diffusion, the Ca2+-buffering properties of the cytoplasm, and the nonlinear dependency of iCl on [Ca2+]cyt, as well as the presence of chloroplasts agreed well with the experimentally observed behavior of the transient current. The slow stage of the [Ca2+]cyt relaxation to the resting level (approximately 10(-7) M), related to the functioning of Ca2+-ATPases, was shown to take approximately 10(2) s. We assume this stage to determine the duration of the refractory period after the generation of action potential.