Inhibition of sodium currents by local anesthetics in chloramine-T-treated squid axons. The role of channel activation.

In order to test the requirement of Na channel inactivation for the action of local anesthetics, we investigated the inhibitory effects of quaternary and tertiary amine anesthetics on normally inactivating and noninactivating Na currents in squid axons under voltage clamp. Either the enzymatic mixture pronase, or chloramine-T (CT), a noncleaving, oxidizing reagent, was used to abolish Na channel inactivation. We found that both the local anesthetics QX-314 and etidocaine, when perfused internally at 1 mM, elicited a "tonic" (resting) block of Na currents, a "time-dependent" block that increased during single depolarizations, and a "use-dependent" (phasic) block that accumulated as a result of repetitive depolarizations. All three effects occurred in both control and CT-treated axons. As in previous reports, little time-dependent or phasic block by QX-314 appeared in pronase-treated axons, although tonic block remained. Time-dependent block was greatest and fastest at large depolarizations (Em greater than +60 mV) for both the control and CT-treated axons. The recovery kinetics from phasic block were the same in control and CT-modified axons. The voltage dependence of the steady state phasic block in CT-treated axons differed from that in the controls; an 8-10% reduction of the maximum phasic block and a steepening and shift of the voltage dependence in the hyperpolarizing direction resulted from CT treatment. The results show that these anesthetics can bind rapidly to open Na channels in a voltage-dependent manner, with no requirement for fast inactivation. We propose that the rapid phasic blocking reactions in nerve are consequences primarily of channel activation, mediated by binding of anesthetics to open channels, and that the voltage dependence of phasic block arises directly from that of channel activation.