Typical resting membrane potential

Range -40 to -95 mV
Organism Eukaryotes
Reference Hille B., Ion channels of excitable membranes, 2001 3rd ed. Sinauer Associates Inc. p.27 top paragraph
Method "The combination of pipette, wire electrode and amplifier is a sensitive tool for measuring potentials in the region just outside the tip of the electrode."
Comments "In practice, the amplifier is zeroed with the pipette outside the cell: the pipette is then advanced until it suddenly breaks through the cell membrane. Just as suddenly, the amplifier reports a negative change of the of the recorded potential. This is the resting membrane potential. Values between -40 and -95 mV are typical."
Entered by Uri M
ID 106544