Gating of maxi channels observed from pseudo-phase portraits.

Phase space has been used to visualize and analyze the dynamic behavior of stochastic and chaotic systems. We applied this concept to maxi channels recorded from excised inside-out patches of in situ interstitial cells of Cajal. Pseudo-phase portraits of channel current were fairly homogeneous from patch to patch. They showed three main peaks, α, β, and γ, in increasing conductance. These represented single or near aggregated states. The α-peak was the closed state. The β-peak was small, consisting of a single conductance state, or in some cases two (a doublet). The β-peak state(s) had a long lifetime and displayed a characteristic behavior of frequent short transitions to γ but not to α. It was always preceded by a short series of α/γ-transitions. The γ-peak was the largest and consisted of a large number of conductance states with fast state transitions, sometimes to the extent of causing a diffusive-type behavior. Phase portraits allowed us to construct a provisional gating scheme for the maxi channel and suggest that further analysis of recordings in higher dimensional phase space and with related techniques may be promising.