Thermal block of unmyelinated axons may serve as a modality for control, suggesting a means for providing therapies for pain. Computational modeling predicted that potassium channels are necessary for mediating thermal block of propagating compound action potentials (CAPs) with infrared (IR) light. Our study tests that hypothesis. Results suggest that potassium channel blockers disrupt the ability of IR to block propagating CAPs in Aplysia californica nerves, whereas sodium channel blockers appear to have no significant effect. These observations validate the modeling results and suggest potential applications of thermal block to many other unmyelinated axons.

中文翻译：

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电压门控钾通道对于红外线抑制动作电位至关重要：一项实验研究。

未髓鞘轴突的热阻滞可作为控制方式，提示了提供疼痛疗法的手段。计算模型预测，钾通道是介导红外（IR）光传播复合动作电位（CAPs）的热阻所必需的。我们的研究检验了该假设。结果表明，钾通道阻滞剂破坏了IR阻断加州海Ap神经中传播的CAP的能力，而钠通道阻滞剂似乎没有明显作用。这些观察结果验证了建模结果，并暗示了热阻滞在许多其他未髓鞘轴突中的潜在应用。