Two types of transient outward currents in cardiac ventricular cells of mice

Ventricular cells of adult mice were prepared by an enzyme digestion procedure. Single channel currents were recorded by a conventional patch clamp technique from cell attached patches. Voltage steps from the holding potential of -80 mV to test potentials between -35 and +50 mV caused openings of two types of outward currents through single channels with the conductances of 27 and 12 pS, respectively. The averaged currents reveal transient time courses for both channel types. The current-voltage relations of both single channel currents were linear over the tested voltage range and intersected the voltage axis at -70 mV. This indicates that both single channel currents are mainly carried by potassium ions. All open and closed times were found to be voltage independent. The 27 pS channel had a mean open time of 3.9 +/- 1.0 ms (n = 8). The closed time consisted of two components with tau 1 = 2.1 +/- 0.2 ms and tau 2 = 50 +/- 19 ms (n = 8). The 12 pS channel had a mean open time of 34.0 +/- 5.2 ms (n = 3) and the two components of the mean closed time have been calculated as tau 1 = 8.3 +/- 2.1 ms and tau 2 = 120 +/- 50 ms (n = 3; all mean +/- SD).