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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Recapitulation of an Ion Channel IV Curve Using Frequency Components
Published on: February 9, 2011
Physical model for the gating mechanism of ionic channels
Cheol-Min Ghim1, Jeong-Man Park
1School of Physics, Seoul National University, Korea.
Abstract:
We propose a physical model for the gating mechanism of ionic channels. First, we investigate the fluctuation-mediated interactions between two proteins imbedded in a cellular membrane and find that the interaction depends on their orientational configuration as well as the distance between them. The orientational dependence of interactions arises from the fact that the noncircular cross-sectional shapes of individual proteins constrain fluctuations of the membrane differently according to their orientational configuration. Then, we apply these interactions to ionic channels composed of four, five, and six proteins. As the gating stimulus creates the changes in the structural shape of proteins composing ionic channels, the orientational configuration of the ionic channels changes due to the free energy minimization, and ionic channels are open or closed according to the conformation thereof.
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