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Ion channels are membrane proteins responsible for an enormous range of biological functions. Ion selectivity and permeation are based on simple laws of physics and chemistry. Ion channels are therefore ideal candidates for physical…
Potassium channels play critical roles in many physiological processes, providing a selective permeation route for K+ ions in and out of a cell, by employing a carefully designed selectivity filter, evolutionarily conserved from viruses to…
We present an equilibrium statistical-mechanical theory of selectivity in biological ion channels. In doing so, we introduce a grand canonical ensemble for ions in a channel's selectivity filter coupled to internal and external bath…
Ion channels are specific proteins present in the membranes of living cells. They control the flow of specific ions through a cell, initiated by an ion channel's electrochemical gradient. In doing so, they control important physiological…
Excitability is an attribute of life, and is a driving force in the descent of complexity. Cellular electrical activity as realized by membrane proteins that act as either channels or transporters is the basis of excitability. Electrical…
We investigate the outflux of ions through the channels in a cell membrane. The channels undergo an open/close cycle according to a periodic schedule. Our study is based both on theoretical considerations relying on homogenization theory,…
An intense controversy has surrounded the mechanism of voltage-gating in ion channels. We interpreted the two leading models of voltage-gating with respect to the thermodynamic energetics of membrane insertion of the voltage-sensing…
We introduce a self-consistent multi-species kinetic theory based on the structure of the narrow voltage-gated potassium channel. Transition rates depend on a complete energy spectrum with contributions including the dehydration amongst…
ClC chloride channels possess a homodimeric structure in which each monomer contains an independent chloride ion pathway. ClC channel gating is regulated by chloride ion concentration, pH, and voltage. Based on structural and physiological…
Molecular motion through pores plays a crucial role in various natural and industrial processes. One of the most fascinating features of biological channel-facilitated transport is a stochastic gating process, when the channels dynamically…
Potassium (K$^+$) channels regulate the flux of K$^+$ ions through cell membranes and plays significant roles in many physiological functions. This work studies the KcsA potassium channel, including the selectivity and current-voltage (IV)…
We propose and study a model of hypothetical magnetosensitive ionic channels which are long thought to be a possible candidate to explain the influence of weak magnetic fields on living organisms ranging from magnetotactic bacteria to…
For ion channel gating, the appearance of two distinct conformational states and the discrete transitions between them is essential, and therefore of crucial importance to all living organisms. We show that the physical interplay between…
Mechanosensitive channels are ion channels activated by membrane tension. We investigate the influence of bacterial mechanosensitive channels spatial distribution on activation (gating). Based on elastic short-range interactions we map this…
Ocean microbes are critical to both ocean ecosystems and the global climate. Flow cytometry, which measures cell optical properties in fluid samples, is routinely used in oceanographic research. Despite decades of accumulated data,…
We study the effect of intracellular ion diffusion on ionic currents permeating through the cell membrane. Ion flux across the cell membrane is mediated by special proteins forming specific channels. The structure of potassium channels have…
We model filtration of a feed solution, containing both small and large foulant particles, by a membrane filter. The membrane interior is modeled as a network of pores, allowing for the simultaneous adsorption of small particles and sieving…
Many ion channels spontaneously switch between different levels of activity. Although this behaviour known as modal gating has been observed for a long time it is currently not well understood. Despite the fact that appropriately…
The opening rate of voltage-gated potassium ion channels exhibits a characteristic, knee-like turnover where the common exponential voltage-dependence changes suddenly into a linear one. An explanation of this puzzling crossover is put…
We study an open-chain totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) with stochastic gates present at the two boundaries. The gating dynamics has been modeled keeping the physical system of ion-channel gating in mind. These gates can…