Characteristics of Schwann-cell miniature end-plate currents in denervated frog muscle

End-plates in denervated frog sartorius muscles were investigated, under voltage clamp, to determine the characteristics of miniature endplate currents (mepc) caused by the release of acetylcholine (ACh)-quanta from Schwann-cells. Staining for acetylcholinesterase ascertained that in most cases Schwann-cell mepc had been recorded focally from the end-plate. The mean amplitude of Schwann-cell mepc (about 1 nA) was smaller than the amplitude (3-4nA) of normal nerve evoked mepc. The amplitude distribution of Schwann-cell mepc was skewed, as were also the distributions of decay time constants and of rise times. Some Schwann-cell mepc appeared to be of composite nature, as shown by an inflexion on either the rising of falling phase. The decay time constant tau of both fast and slowly decaying Schwann-cell mepc increased with membrane hyperpolarization suggesting an exponential correlation. The potential dependence was 118 +/- 37 mV (means +/- SD from 6 experiments) for an e-fold change of tau, which does not differ significantly from that for neural mepc (98 mV). The cholinesterase inhibitor neostigmine increased the amplitude and prolonged the time course of Schwann-cell mepc to a similar degree after short and long term denervation, which indicates that cholinesterase was still functional after 3-4 months of denervation. The results show that the characteristics of Schwann-cell mepc resemble in many respects those of neural mepc but are more variable in shape and amplitude.