Osmotically induced basolateral K+ conductance in turtle colon: lidocaine-induced K+ channel noise

The basolateral membrane of amphotericin-treated turtle colon can exhibit two distinct types of K+ conductance, one of which is associated with cell swelling and is blocked by quinidine or lidocaine. Fluctuations in basolateral K+ currents were analyzed under swelling (mucosal KCl) and nonswelling (mucosal K gluconate) conditions. Under nonswelling conditions, it was not possible to detect a spontaneous Lorentzian component in the power density spectrum (PDS) and the addition of lidocaine neither inhibited the macroscopic current nor induced a Lorentzian component in the PDS. Under swelling conditions, however, lidocaine induced a Lorentzian component in the PDS and the corner frequency increased linearly with blocker concentration as expected for reversible blockade of the channel. The gating and conductance properties of osmotically induced channels estimated from a two-state model were similar to those determined recently in single-channel recordings from isolated colonic cells.