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Biomedical subjects

I TASAKI

Publications and source records attributed to I TASAKI.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Permeability of squid axon membrane to various ions.

The permeability of the squid axon membrane was determined by the use of radioisotopes of Na, K, Ca, Cs, and Br. Effluxes of these isotopes were measured mainly by the method of intracellular injection. Measurements of influxes were carried out under continuous intracellular perfusion with an isotonic solution of potassium sulfate. The Na permeability of the resting (excitable) axonal membrane was found to be roughly equal to the K permeability. The permeability to anion was far smaller than that to cations. It is emphasized that the axonal membrane has properties of a cation exchanger. The physicochemical nature of the "two stable states" of the excitable membrane is discussed on the basis of ion exchange isotherms.

Animals↗

Voltage clamp behavior of iron-nitric acid system as compared with that of nerve membrane.

The current-voltage relation for the surface layer of an iron wire immersed in nitric acid was investigated by the voltage clamp technique. Comparing the phase of nitric acid to the axoplasm and the metallic phase to the external fluid medium for the nerve fiber, a striking analogy was found between the voltage clamp behavior of the iron-nitric acid system and that of the nerve membrane. The current voltage curve was found to consist of three parts: (a) a straight line representing the behavior of the resting (passive) membrane, (b) a straight line representing the fully excited (active) state, and (c) an intermediate zone connecting (a) and (b). It was shown that in the intermediate zone, the surface of iron consisted of a fully active patch (or patches) surrounded by a remaining resting area. The phenomenon corresponding to "repetitive firing of responses under voltage clamp" in the nerve membrane was demonstrated in the intermediate zone. The behavior of the cobalt electrode system was also investigated by the same technique. An attempt was made to interpret the phenomenon of initiation and abolition of an active potential on the basis of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes.

Iron↗

Electric response of glia cells in cat brain.

An experiment is described suggesting that the glia cells in the mammalian cerebral cortex are capable of developing electric responses to direct stimuli. When hyperfine microelectrodes were pushed into the cortex of a cat, slow, reversible potential variations were recorded which resembled the "electric responses" from the glia cells in tissue culture.

Animals↗