VOLTAGE-DEPENDENT BLOCK BY L-CIS-DILTIAZEM OF THE CYCLIC GMP-ACTIVATED CONDUCTANCE OF SALAMANDER RODS

Block by L-cis-diltiazem of the cyclic GMP-activated conductance was studied in excised inside-out patches from the salamander rod outer segment. When L-cis-diltiazem was applied from the cytoplasmic face of the patch, current suppression increased monotonically with membrane depolarization, the ratio of blocked to unblocked current varying e-fold in 50 mV. This suggests that L-cis-diltiazem interacts with a binding site located about half-way across the membrane field, and is unable to fully traverse the cyclic GMP-activated channel. The kinetics of block were accelerated by increasing L-cis-diltiazem concentration and by depolarization. These results can be fitted by a single barrier model in which the barrier peak is located about a third of the way across the membrane field from the cytoplasmic face. Application of L-cis-diltiazem from the extracellular face of the patch also resulted in an enhancement of block with membrane depolarization. Indirect evidence supports the notion that this block resulted from partition of the uncharged form of the blocker across the membrane, and its subsequent interaction with the cytoplasmic face of the conductance.