[Identification of sodium channels in vitro]

The membrane fraction isolated from cattle brain and vagal nerve was treated by ultrasonic irradiation in the presence of 22Na. It was shown that 22Na was trapped in vesicles formed from sonicated membranes in an osmotically active forms and slowly released into a nonradioactive solution. The efflux of 22Na from vesicles was studied in the presence and in the absence of substances which change the sodium conductance of excitable membranes. The local anesthetics (procaine, dibucaine) and tetrodotoxin at concentrations blocking electrical excitation in vivo decreased the sodium efflux from the vesicles. Veratrine, an activator of sodium channels, increased this efflux. The results are interpretated as an indication of the presence of functionally active sodium channels in the isolated membrane fragments.