Internal effects of divalent cations on potassium permeability in molluscan neurones

1. Electrophoretic injection of Ca ions into Aplysia pace-maker neurones activates an outward current, carried primarily by K ions, whose magnitude is determined by the intensity and duration of the injection current, the position of the injection electrode within the cell and the holding potential. 2. The efflux of K ions measured with an extracellular K sensitive electrode is a linear function of the Ca activated outward current and disappears at its reversal potential. 3. The outward current decays exponentially with an early and late phase. The early but not the late phase is temperature dependent with a Q10 of about 3-5. 4. Of the divalent cations which activate the outward current, Ca is the most effective followed by Cd, Hg, Sr, Mn and Fe. Injections of Ba, Co, Cu, Mg, Ni and Zn are ineffective. 5. Low temperatures or prolonged injection of Cd or Hg, increase the amplitude of the outward current activated by Ca. 6. Prolonged injection of Ba inhibits the Ca activated outward current and reduces substantially all currents carried by K ions. 7. It is concluded that the effectiveness of a divalent cation in activating the K current is, in part, related to its ionic radius, and that the site of activation can accommodate ionic radii between about 0.76 and 1.13 A.