Tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine block calcium-dependent chloride current in rat cerebellum Purkinje cells

Abstract

Using patch-clamp method (whole cell configuration), it was shown that tetraethylammonium (TEA) and 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) block calcium-dependent chloride currents in the membrane of freshly isolated cerebellar Purkinje cells of rats (12–15 days). In the concentration range studied (50 μM–10 mM TEA and 100 μM–1 mM 4-AP), both compounds blocked the chloride current at IC₅₀ 130 μM for TEA and 110 μM for 4-AP. TEA blockade was reversible after washing. The effect of 4-AP at concentrations greater than 100 μM was irreversible: both outward and inward chloride currents were blocked even after the removal of 4-AP from the incubation medium.