Sodium Channels of the Cockroach Central Nervous System Synaptosomes

The inward movement of sodium ions during the propagation of action potential in most nerve membranes occurs through voltage-sensitive sodium channels. The molecular properties of sodium channels are defined predominantly by the interaction of specific neurotoxins with the discrete receptor sites of the voltage-sensitive sodium channels, such as sodium influx inhibitors (tetrodotoxin, saxitoxin) sodium channel activators (batrachotoxin, veratridine, aconitine), and inactivation inhibitors (sea anemone toxin, scorpion toxin) (Lazdunski and Renaud, 1982; Catterall, 1984). Because the neurotoxins bind to their receptor sites with a high affinity and specificity, they have been used as pharmacological probes to study the structural and functional properties of voltage-sensitive sodium channels in variety of excitable membranes. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.