Hindered diffusion in excised membrane patches from retinal rod outer segments

Excised inside-out membrane patches are useful for studying the cGMP-activated ion channels that generate the electrical response to light in retinal rod cells. We show that strong ionic current across a patch changes the driving force on the current by altering the ionic concentration near the surface membrane, an effect somewhat like that first described by Frankenhaeuser and Hodgkin (1956) in squid axons. The dominant concentration change occurs in the solution adjacent to the cytoplasmic (inner) surface of the membrane, where diffusion is impaired by intracellular material that adheres to the patch during excision. The magnitude and time course of the ionic changes are consistent with the expected volume of this material and with an effective diffusion coefficient about an order of magnitude less than that in free solution. Methods are described for correcting current transients observed in voltage clamp experiments, so that channel gating kinetics can be obtained without contamination by changes in driving force. We suggest that restricted diffusion may occur in patches excised from other types of cells and influence rapid kinetic measurements.