Non-selective cationic channel in primary cultured cells of brown adipose tissue

Single channel current events were recorded from membranes of cultured brown adipose tissue cells with the patch-clamp technique. In excised inside-out patches the predominant type of events showed a slope conductance of about 30 pS (25 degrees C). The current was carried by both, Na+ ions and K+ ions. Discrimination between them was poor. The frequency of events increased with increasing temperature. Their amplitude was temperature dependent as well (Q10 approximately equal to 1.4). A single exponential was not sufficient for fitting the histograms of "on-time" or "off-time". We conclude that these events belong to a type of non-selective cation channel described previously for other tissues.