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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Capturing the Interaction Kinetics of an Ion Channel Protein with Small Molecules by the Bio-layer Interferometry Assay
Published on: March 7, 2018
Coulomb interaction rules timescales in potassium ion channel tunneling
N De March1, S D Prado1, L G Brunnet1
1Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), CP: 15051 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Abstract:
Assuming the selectivity filter of KcsA potassium ion channel may exhibit quantum coherence, we extend a previous model by Vaziri and Plenio (2010 New J. Phys. 12 085001) to take into account Coulomb repulsion between potassium ions. We show that typical ion transit timescales are determined by this interaction, which imposes optimal input/output parameter ranges. Also, as observed in other examples of quantum tunneling in biological systems, the addition of moderate noise helps coherent ion transport.
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