Cardiac pacemaker potentials at different extra- and intracellular K concentrations

Transmembrane potentials were recorded from mammalian Purkinje fibers. Adding saccharose to the bathing solution slowed the spontaneous rate, probably as a result of cell shrinkage and an increase in the intracellular K concentration. An opposite result was found with hypotonic medium. In solutions containing 5.4 mm K the fibers were quiescent. Lowering K to 2.7 mm left the membrane resting potential unchanged but decreased the membrane conductance to half. There was only a minor effect of extracellular K on membrane conductance during the plateau of the action potential. Spontaneous firing regularly started when extracellular K was reduced to or below 2.7 mm. This was preceded by subthreshold oscillations which increased in amplitude. A low K conductance associated with a sizeable difference between membrane potential and potassium equilibrium potential seem to be essential for spontaneous activity to occur in cardiac tissue.