The Biophysical Approach to Excitable Systems : A Volume in Honor of Kenneth S. Cole on His 80th Birthday

On July 10, 1980, Kenneth S. Cole became 80 years old. In order to celebrate this landmark, a symposium in the form of a series of Monday evening lectures was held in his honor at the Marine Biological Labora­ tory throughout the summer of 1980. The selection of speakers was made from among those investigators who had been either his students or co-workers. One intent of the symposium was to examine the current status of knowledge of those areas of interest in excitable membrane structure and function that owe their initiation or encouragement to Kacy Cole. The papers assembled in this volume represent a large majority of the presentations given during the 1980 Cole Symposium. It seems clear on examination of these papers that Kacy's interests in membrane impedance, ion channel conductances, channel fluctuation phenomena, excitation, and the development of membrane biophysical methodology are all being actively pursued. It is also clear that many of his suggestions have borne fruit. Of these, his invention of the voltage v vi Preface clamp method has been most productive. It is hoped that these papers will provide new directions for investigations into the nature of excitable membrane phenomena. The organizers of the symposium and the editors of this volume wish to express their thanks to the Marine Biological Laboratory for making available the facilities for the symposium. They also wish to thank Dr. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Electrical Properties of Cells: Principles, Some Recent Results, and Some Unresolved Problems....Pages 3-24 Nonlinear Sinusoidal Currents in the Hodgkin—Huxley Model....Pages 25-35 Second-Order Admittance in Squid Axon....Pages 37-63 Squid Axon K Conduction: Admittance and Noise during Short-versus Long-Duration Step Clamps....Pages 65-95 Squid Axon Membrane Low-Frequency Dielectric Properties....Pages 97-106 Front Matter....Pages 107-107 Single-Channel Conductances and Models of Transport....Pages 109-121 Gating Kinetics of Stochastic Single K Channels....Pages 123-132 Front Matter....Pages 133-133 Calculation of the Electrogenicity of the Sodium Pump System of the Squid Giant Axon....Pages 135-149 Depolarization and Calcium Entry....Pages 151-163 A Quantitative Expression of the Electrogenic Pump and Its Possible Role in the Excitation of Chara Internodes....Pages 165-181 Front Matter....Pages 183-183 Increases in Membrane Conductance Caused by Electrical, Chemical, and Mechanical Stimuli....Pages 185-195 Continuous Stimulation and Threshold of Axons: The Other Legacy of Kenneth Cole....Pages 197-211 A Model of Drug-Channel Interaction in Squid Axon Membrane....Pages 213-251 Back Matter....Pages 253-258