Gating current harmonics. IV. Dynamic properties of secondary activation kinetics in sodium channel gating.

The kinetics for sodium channel gating appear to involve three coupled processes: (a) "primary" activation, (b) "secondary" activation, and (c) inactivation. Gating current data obtained in dynamic steady states with sinusoidal voltage-clamp were analyzed to give further details about the secondary activation process in sodium channel gating. Unlike primary activation and inactivation, the secondary activation kinetics involve physical processes that become defined when the data are analyzed as a function of the sinusoid frequency in addition to mean membrane potential. The effects of these processes are described, and a physical interpretation is presented.