Received June 23, 2005
Revised July 11, 2005
Accepted after revision July 19, 2005

¹ University of Aarhus
² University of Arahus

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wmd{at}fi.au.dk.

	Abstract

In skeletal muscle, the intracellular recording of trains of action potentials is difficult due to the movement of the muscle upon stimulation. A potential tool for the removal of muscle movement is the cross bridge cycle blocker, N-benzyl-p-toluene sulphonamide (BTS), although the effects of BTS on the passive and active membrane properties of intact muscle fibres are not known. Rat extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle was used to show that 50 µM BTS reduced tetanic force to ~10 % of control force, without markedly altering muscle excitability. Incubation with BTS did not alter intracellular K⁺ content or Na⁺-K⁺ pump activity, but produced minor decreases in intracellular Na⁺ content (7 %), resting ²²Na⁺-influx (14 %) and excitation-induced ²²Na⁺-influx (29 %). Despite these alterations to Na⁺ fluxes, BTS did not impair muscle excitability, as membrane conductance, resting membrane potential (RMP), rheobase current and the amplitude, overshoot and maximum rate of depolarisation of the action potential were all unaltered. However, BTS did induce a small (8 %) decrease in the maximum rate of depolarisation of the action potential and an increase in the refractory period. The minor effects of BTS on muscle membrane properties did not compromise the ability of the muscle to propagate action potentials, even during tetanic stimulation. In conclusion, BTS can be successfully used to reduce contractility, allowing the intracellular recording of action potentials during both twitch and tetanic contraction of nerve stimulated muscle, thus making it an excellent tool for the study of electrophysiology in fast-twitch skeletal muscle.

Key Words: Action potential, Electrophysiology, Skeletal muscle