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The Use of Ion-Selective Microelectrodes to Study Cellular Transport Processes

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Cell Membrane Transport

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Abstract

Ionic gradients and fluxes are involved in a number of cellular functions including nerve and muscle excitation and transepithelial absorption and secretion. It is of critical importance in these cases to obtain accurate measurements of intracellular ionic activities both at rest and during cell activation. Since the miniaturization of ion-selective glass membranes between 1950 and 1970, ion-selective microelectrodes (ISMs) have been extensively used for this purpose. The method allows not only measurement of steady-state values but also the monitoring of transient intracellular ionic activities. With certain provisos, the estimation of net transmembrane fluxes of ions is also possible. Improvement in the procedures for constructing ISMs and the introduction of liquid membranes (Walker, 1971) have allowed the technique to be used not only in large cells, typically of invertebrates, but also in smaller cells such as smooth muscle fibers, vertebrate neurons or tubular epithelia of the kidney.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    J. Fernando García-Díaz & Fernando Giráldez

  2. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

    J. Fernando García-Díaz & Fernando Giráldez

Authors
  1. J. Fernando García-Díaz
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  2. Fernando Giráldez
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of London, London, UK

    David L. Yudilevich

  2. University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Rosa Devés

  3. University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain

    Salvador Perán

  4. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Z. Ioav Cabantchik

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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García-Díaz, J.F., Giráldez, F. (1991). The Use of Ion-Selective Microelectrodes to Study Cellular Transport Processes. In: Yudilevich, D.L., Devés, R., Perán, S., Cabantchik, Z.I. (eds) Cell Membrane Transport. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9601-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9601-8_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9603-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9601-8

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