Ionic Channels and Nerve Membrane Lipids Cholesterol-tetrodotoxin interaction

Experiments were carried out to investigate possible interactions of tetrodotoxin (TTX) with lipid molecules isolated from nerve fiber plasma membranes of the squid Dosidicus gigas. TTX has a highly selective ability to block the channel normally used by Na⁺ to cross the axolemma during nervous impulse conduction. In order to investigate the interaction each lipid sample was spread on 5 x 10^-7 M TTX and TTX-free 0.15 M NaCl solutions adjusted to pH 7.4 with 7 x 10^-3 M phosphate buffer. The surface pressure-area diagrams of the lipid monolayers revealed that TTX interacts only with cholesterol. The expansion of the cholesterol monolayers at 5 x 10^-7 M TTX was 2 A²/molecule at zero pressure for the experiments at 20°C and 2.5 A²/molecule for those at 25°C. Similar results were obtained in KCl subphases. The apparent dissociation constant of the cholesterol-TTX complex calculated from dose-response experiments is 2.6 x 10^-7 M. Experiments at pH 10.1 revealed that the zwitter ionic form of TTX is less active. Experiments with cholesterol derivatives (cholesteryl acetate, cholesterol methyl ether, cholestanol, and cholestanyl acetate) indicate that for the interaction with TTX a partial negatively charged group at C-3 and a double bond between C-5 and C-6 on the steroid nucleus are required. Tetrodonic acid, a biologically inactive derivative of TTX, does not interact with cholesterol. The results lead us to propose that cholesterol is part of the Na⁺ channel.