Optical Studies on the Kinetics of the Sodium Pump in Mammalian Non-myelinated Nerve Fibres

1. A study has been made of the changes in the fluorescence of desheathed rabbit cervical vagus nerves that occur during and after electrical stimulation of its non-myelinated fibres.2. Stimulation for 5 sec at 30 shocks/sec produces a maximal decrease, of about 1% of the resting fluorescence. Stimulation for less than 0.5 sec fails to produce responses visible above the inherent noise in the recording system.3. A pharmacological dissection (with ouabain, metabolic inhibitors, and calcium) has revealed four phases of fluorescence change:(a) under conditions where the sodium pump is functioning, there is a prolonged decrease in the fluorescence following electrical activity;(b) even in the absence of pumping the mere entry of sodium into the nerve causes an initial decrease in fluorescence;(c) the entry of calcium ions with electrical activity also causes an initial rapid decrease in fluorescence;(d) following these phases of decreased fluorescence there is a phase of increased fluorescence.4. These changes in fluorescence are related to changes in the NADH concentration in the nerve resulting from:(a) the splitting of ATP during sodium extrusion;(b) the initial binding of sodium to the sodium- and potassium-dependent ATPase, which is the sodium pump;(c) the stimulation of mitochondrial respiration by calcium that has entered during the spike; and(d) an increased glycogenolysis as a result of the calcium entry during activity.