Membrane Potential
Introduction
- Membrane potential: difference in charge inside and outside the cell
- Plasma membrane barrier separating charges
- Ion concentration differ between the inside and outside or outside cell
- Polarized
- Resting membrane potential: when neurons are not sending signals
- Plasma membrane is not very permeable to cations and anions
- Separates charge by keeping different ions largely inside or outside the cell
- -70 mV resting potential inside cell
- Interior more negative than exterior
- Negative ions within the cell are drawn to the positive ions arrayed on the outer surface
Factors Contributing to Resting Potential
- NA⁺/K⁺ -ATPase (sodium-potassium pump): transports 3 Na+ out for every 2 K+ moved in
- Ion specific channels: allow passive movement of ions
- More ungated K+ channels than ungated Na+ channels
- Membrane more permeable to K+ at rest
- Negatively charged molecules such as proteins more abundant inside cell
Electrochemical Gradient
- Electrochemical gradient: combined effect of electrical and chemical gradient
- Equilibrium potential: no net movement due to opposing forces of chemical and electrical gradients
Communication Between Neurons
- Changes in membrane potential are changes in the degree of polarization
- Depolarization: cell membrane less polarized and less negative relative to surrounding solution
- Gated channels open allowing Na+ to flow in and membrane potential becomes more positive (less negative)
- Hyperpolarization: cell membrane more polarized and more negative
- K+ moves out of the cell making the cell membrane less positive (more negative)
- All cells have a membrane potential
- Only neurons and muscle cells are excitable
- Excitable: capacity to generate electrical signals
- Use gated ion channels
- Voltage-gated ion channel: open and close in response to voltage changes
- Ligand-gated ion channel: open and close in response to ligands or chemicals
Two Types of Changes
- Graded potentials
- Depolarization or hyperpolarization
- Varies depending on strength of stimulus
- Occur locally on dendrites or cell body
- Spreads a short distance and dies out
- Act as triggers for action potential
- Action potentials
- Carry electrical signal along an axon
- Always the large same amplitude depolarization
- All-or-none - cannot be graded
- Actively propagated - regenerates itself as it travels
Generation and Transmission of Electrical Signals Along Neurons
- Action potential begins when graded potential depolarizes to threshold potential (-50mV)
- Voltage-gated Na+ channels, triggering action potential
- Na+ rapidly diffuses into cell causing spike
- Inactivation gate in Na+ channel shuts when membrane sufficiently positively polarized
- Cannot reopen until resting potential is restored
- Voltage-gated K+ channels also open at threshold potential, but 1 msec later than Na+ channels
- K+ leave cell and membrane becomes negative again
- So many K+ leave that membrane hyperpolarizes
- Voltage-gated K+ channels close and resting membrane potential is restored
- Evolution of K+ channels with a slightly slower opening time than Na+ channels was a key event that led to the formation of nervous systems
- If both opened at the same time, they would negate each other’s effects
- Absolute refractory period
- While inactivation gates of Na⁺ channels are closed, cell is unresponsive to another stimulus
- Places limits on the frequency of action potentials
- Also ensures action potential does not move backward toward cell body
Speed Variation
- Speed varies depending on
- Axon diameter
- Broad axons provide less resistance and action potential moves faster
- Myelination
- Myelinated axons are faster then unmyelinated
- Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells make myelin sheath
- Not continuous: gaps at nodes of Ranvier
- Saltatory conduction: action potential seems to “jump” from node to node
Synapses
- Junction where nerve terminal meets a neuron, muscle cell, or gland
- Presynaptic cell: sends signal
- Synaptic cleft and postsynaptic cell: receives signal
- Two types
- Electrical synapses: electric charge freely flows through gap junctions from cell to cell
- Chemical synapses: neurotransmitter acts as signal from presynaptic to postsynaptic cell
- Presynaptic nerve cell contains vesicles of neurotransmitter
- Exocytosis releases neurotransmitter into \n synaptic cleft
- Diffuses across cleft
- Binds to channels or receptors in postsynaptic cell membrane
- Binding of neurotransmitter changes membrane potential of postsynaptic cell
- Excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP): brings membrane closer to threshold potential
- Inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP): takes membrane further from threshold potential (hyperpolarization)
- Synaptic signal ends when neurotransmitter is broken down by enzymes or taken back into presynaptic cell for reuse
Neuron Response
- Synaptic integration: integrates multiple inputs to single neuron
- Spatial summation: when two or more EPSPs or IPSPs are generated at one time along different regions of the dendrites and cell body, their effects sum together
- Temporal summation: two or more EPSPs arrive at same location is quick succession