[Mechanism of ethonium effect on membrane preparations of brain Na+, K+-ATPase].

The effect of ethonium, a local anesthetic, on the membrane preparations of brain N+, K+-ATPase was studied by fluorescent, radioisotopic, electron-microscopic and electrophysiological methods. Ethonium is established to affect the formation of an intermediate phosphorylated product and has no pronounced destructive effect on the membrane. It changes the fluorescence intensity of 2-toluidinonaphthalen-6-sulphonate (TNS), astrafloxin (AF) and fluorene probes in a suspension of the Na+, K+-ATPase preparations, which evidences for ethonium-induced changes in the structure of membrane fragments.