Currently it is very difficult to import and/or obtain TTX (tetrodotoxin) in Mexico, since this toxin is marketed from abroad (USA), for which I ask for your help to find out if any of you have used any drug that is not TTX or some toxin to block the sodium channels at the CNS level, our work group wants to carry out electrophysiology experiments blocking the sodium channels.
Hi Juan,
(Neo)saxitoxin (N(STX)) could be an alternative. It also works from the extracellular side but you might also encounter similar problems with the import. You could think about working with Na+-free solutions instead using, e.g., NMDG (Meglumine) since it has a similar osmotic activity to Na+. This would obviously exclude every Na+ conductance, not only through NaV's. And it's a sugar derivative, the refractive index is different from water, so it might be important if you want to perform imaging experiments or photomanipulation simultaneously. And, (if performing with whole-cell patch clamp) you would also need to use a Na+ free internal solution, which cannot be (easily) exchanged during an experiment.
Dear Juan,
Victoria already gave excellent suggestions.
The list on Tocris holds some excellent options too. I selected voltage-gated sodium channels, but you may want to target other sodium channels.
https://www.tocris.com/pharmacology/voltage-gated-sodium-channels
Alternatively, depending on your experiment, you could consider to optimize your ion concentrations to reduce the currents through the sodium channels during your experiment.
Good luck!
Martijn Sierksma What's up, indeed, before posting the question on researchgate, look for alternatives in Tocris, I think I'll have to try one of those drugs that is not impossible to import into Mexico, thank you very much for your comment.
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