Lab 2 1. Data obtained from a bobcat neuron both before and after the animal ate 10 bananas.

BEFORE BANANAS -73 mV 9:1 +37 mV -82 mV AFTER BANANAS -68 mV 9:1 +37 mV -65 mV

RMP Resting gk:gNa Maximal amplitude of overshoot potential Maximal amplitude of after-hyperpolarization

The bananas produced these changes in the electrophysiological data by: A. decrease of the cable totime constant. B. making ENa more negative. C. changes in space constant. D. making EK less negative.

2. As the lead physician/scientist on a manned Mars mission, you are examining a newly discovered single-celled organism that lives in the few pockets of liquid water available on the planet. Using microelectrodes, you have measured a membrane potential of -60 mV at 30o C. The environmental concentration of K+ is 5 mM, and your measurements indicate an intracellular concentration of 100 mM. What can you say about the direction of the net flux of K+ under these conditions? A. Net flux will be zero. B. Net flux will be inward. C. Net flux will be outward.

3. A 21-year-old woman comes to your office complaining of muscle fatigue and heart palpitations. Physical examination confirms an occasional bout of cardiac arrhythmia. While talking with the patient, you learn that she has been losing weight by following the latest fad diet, which consists primarily of a thin broth. She supplements this diet with vitamin capsules and salt tablets, which consist primarily of NaCl. Analysis of serum electrolytes reveals the following values: Serum Electrolyte Na+ K+ ClCa++ Phosphate Result 144 mEq/l 3.0 mEq/l 110 mEq/l 9.1 mEq/l 3.5 mEq/l Normal Range 135-145 mEq/l 3.5-5.5 mEq/l 95-112 mEq/l 8.5-10.3 mEq/l 2.5-4.5 mEq/l

Were you to measure the resting potential in a typical motor neuron within this woman, what would you expect to find? A. The resting potential will be equivalent to the K+ equilibrium potential. B. The resting potential will be equivalent to the Na+ equilibrium potential. C. The resting potential will be depolarized relative to a healthy patient. D. The resting potential will be hyperpolarized relative to a healthy patient.

4. Squids are large animals with fast reactions, requiring rapid conduction through their nervous system. In the absence of myelination, how can we explain the rapid propagation of action potentials in squid axons? A. The relative lack of voltage-sensitive channels minimizes resistance along the axon. B. The lipid composition of the plasmalemma produces a high resistance. C. The large diameter of the axon contributes to its high length/space constant. D. Large electrochemical gradients across the plasmalemma generate larger action potentials than mammalian neurons. E. The open-probability of the voltage-sensitive Na+ channels in squids is greater at positive membrane potentials.

5. A young man is admitted to the emergency room after collapsing at a restaurant. His dining partner tells you that he was eating fugo, also known as puffer fish or tetraodon, and he complained of numbness, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Physical examination reveals pupils that are dilated and non-reactive to light. His neurological symptoms are the result of what pharmacological effect? A. Inhibition of the voltage-sensitive Na+ channels prevents initiation of the action potential. B. Binding to the voltage-sensitive K+ channels increases the open-probability at negative potentials, prolonging the action potential. C. Stimulation of presynaptic neurotransmitter release causes inappropriate initiation of the action potential. D. Breakdown of myelination reduces the rate of action potential propagation along the axons. E. Activation of postsynaptic receptors decreases the threshold potential for action potential initiation.

6. Youre following an adolescent patient who has suffered from neurological defects most of her life. You suspect a genetic defect, and, taking advantage of recent breakthroughs in highthroughput DNA sequencing, you find a loss-of-function mutation in one of the voltage-sensitive

Ca++ channels that are expressed in the presynaptic membranes of her motoneurons. What effect would you expect this defect to have on synaptic signaling? A. The generation of miniature end-plate potentials will be inhibited. B. The exocytosis of presynaptic vesicles will be inhibited. C. The degradation in clathrin-coated pit formation will increase the residence time for neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft. D. The activity of neurotransmitter degradative enzymes will be depressed. E. The stability of the synaptic scaffolding will be compromised.

7. As the lead physician/scientist on a manned Mars mission, you are examining a newly discovered single-celled organism that lives in the few pockets of liquid water available on the planet. Using microelectrodes, you have measured a membrane potential of -60 mV at 30o C. The environmental concentration of K+ is 5 mM, and your measurements indicate an intracellular concentration of 100 mM. What can you conclude about the distribution of K+ in this organism? A. It is at equilibrium. B. It is absorbed by the cell C. It is extruded by the cell.

8. A cohort of individuals, all in the same family, suffer from idiopathic atrial fibrillation. Genomic DNA scanning revealed a nonsense mutation in KCNA5 that encodes Kv1.5, a voltagegated potassium channel expressed in human atria.1 Heterologous expression of the mutant failed to generate the outward directed current IKur vital for atrial repolarization, despite normal insertion of the channel into the membrane and a positive applied membrane potential. This loss of function mutation is caused by disruption of what region of the channel? 1Olson et al. "Kv1.5 channelopathy due to KCNA5 loss-of-function mutation causes human atrial fibrillation" Hum. Mol. Gen. 15:2185-2191, 2006

A. The S4 voltage sensor B. The DEKA selectivity filter C. The EEEE selectivity filter D. The GYG selectivity filter E. The amino terminal inactivation ball

9. Membrane potential recordings were made in neurons from a healthy, 30 year old female patient. At the point (marked by the arrow) during recording of a sub-threshold level of depolarization in an axon hillock:

A. sodium influx exceeds potassium efflux. B. the electrical driving force for potassium influx has increased compared to when the cell was at its resting membrane potential. C. there is a measurable rise in intracellular sodium concentration. D. an action potential will be triggered 50% of the time.

10. BOTH ligand-gated mixed cation sodium-potassium channels and voltage gated sodium channels: A. permit the passive diffusion of sodium into the cell. B. have a refractory period. C. are opened by passive current flow. D. open at a membrane threshold potential.

11. If a neuronal membrane potential is at 0 mV, opening of a ligand-gated mixed cation channel that is exactly equally permeable to potassium and sodium would (assuming normal external and internal ion concentrations): A. depolarize the cell (i.e., make the membrane potential more positive). B. hyperpolarize the cell (i.e., make the membrane potential more negative).

C. increase the threshold (i.e., make the threshold more positive). D. have no effect on the membrane potential.

12 . A postsynaptic neuron has a resting membrane potential of -70 mV. This neuron generates an IPSP which does not change the resting membrane potential of the neuron. Instead, this IPSP "clamps" the membrane potential at -70 mV. Opening of which channel type in this postsynaptic neuron would explain these observations? A. Na+ channels. B. Cl- channels. C. Ca2+ channels. D. Mixed cation channels. 13. During a single action potential in a nerve axon, repolarization:

A. occurs because the Na/K ATPase pumps the sodium out of the cell. B. produces a measurable decrease in the intracellular potassium concentration. C. is required for re-activation of the voltage-gated sodium channels. D. would exceed EK if potassium conductance via voltage-gated potassium channels was prolonged.

14. During propagation of an action potential down a normal axon:

A. the amplitude of the action potential decreases as the magnitude of the passive current flow down the axon decreases. B. the passive current flow is uni-directional. C. a small diameter axon offers less resistance to passive current flow down the axon than a large diameter axon. D. the passive flow is always great enough to depolarize the membrane in front of the action potential (closer to the axon terminal) to threshold.

15. A woman ingested shrimp contaminated with saxitoxin, a chemical that blocks voltage-gated sodium channels in nerves. As a result of exposure to this toxin, there would be a DECREASE in: A. the magnitude of the excitatory post-synaptic potential in the nerve cells. B. the maximal amplitude of action potentials.

C. the resting membrane potential (becomes less negative). D. the duration of the relative refractory period.

16. A patient with multiple sclerosis is undergoing a period of flare-up of the disease, during which there is a loss of myelin surrounding the axons of myelinated neurons. The presence of the myelin along normal myelinated axons: A. prevents the bi-directional propagation of the action potential. B. increases the effective resistance of the plasma membrane along the axon. C. increases the number of voltage-gated Na+ channels present between the Nodes of Ranvier. D. elevates the membrane threshold potential (makes it less negative) at the Nodes of Ranvier.

17. The electrophysiological data before and after exposure of a nerve to a drug are presented below: BEFORE DRUG -92 mV +60 mV -73 mV 7:1 +32 mV -82 mV AFTER DRUG -85 mV +50 mV -68 mV 7:1 +29 mV -78 mV

EK ENa RMP Resting gk:gNa Maximal amplitude of overshoot potential Maximal amplitude of after-hyperpolarization

One mechanism by which the drug could produce all these changes in the electrophysiological parameters would be to: A. block voltage-gated sodium channels. B. block voltage-gated potassium channels. C. decrease the activity of the Na/K ATPase in the cell membrane. D. increase the membrane conductance of sodium.

18. The absolute refractory period during an action potential in a nerve axon is primarily due to: A. the elevation of the membrane threshold potential. B. the increase in EK during the polarization phase. C. the inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels. D. the hyperpolarization of the membrane potential.

19. In the diagram below, an action potential is propagated down the axon of a nerve.

The action potential at C is initiated by: A. the opening of chemically gated sodium channels. B. a greater than normal threshold stimulus. C. current flow between B and C. D. summation of the graded potentials at A and B

20. The following parameters describe the membrane characteristics of a normal neuron either BEFORE or DURING a neuronal action potential: -the concentration gradient favors sodium influx -the electrical gradient reduces potassium efflux -the voltage-gated sodium channels are largely in the inactivated state These characteristics describe conditions that occur: A. at the resting membrane potential. B. at the peak of the overshoot. C. during the afterhyperpolarization phase. D. at the membrane threshold potential.

21. During the afterhyperpolarization phase of a single action potential: A. there is a measurable decrease in the intracellular potassium concentration. B. all voltage-gated sodium channels are in the inactivated state. C. a greater than normal stimulus will be required to trigger an action potential. D. the amplitude of a second action potential generated at this point will be less.