Reciprocal effects of Ca2+ and Mg-ATP on the 'run-down' of the K+ channels in opossum kidney cells.

Using the patch clamp technique, we identified an inwardly rectifying K+ channel in the membrane of opossum kidney cells. The single channel conductance was about 90 pS for inward currents and 30 pS for outward currents under a symmetrical high-K+ condition. The activity of the channel was found to decrease with time during recording from inside-out patches. In the solution with submicromolar Ca2+, the activity disappeared within 4-20 min. Intracellular Ca2+ promoted the run-down of the channel activity at 0.1-1 mM, whereas millimolar Mg-ATP restored the activity after run-down. The run-down channels could never be reactivated by ATP in the absence of Mg2+, or by a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog, AMPPNP, even in the presence of Mg2+.