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Published on: December 2, 2011
HOLE: a program for the analysis of the pore dimensions of ion channel structural models
O S Smart1, J G Neduvelil, X Wang
1Department of Crystallography, Birkbeck College, London, England. o.smart@mail.cryst.bbk.ac.uk
Abstract:
A method (HOLE) that allows the analysis of the dimensions of the pore running through a structural model of an ion channel is presented. The algorithm uses a Monte Carlo simulated annealing procedure to find the best route for a sphere with variable radius to squeeze through the channel. Results can be displayed in a graphical fashion or visualized with most common molecular graphical packages. Advances include a method to analyze the anisotropy within a pore. The method can also be used to predict the conductance of channels using a simple empirically corrected ohmic model. As an example the program is applied to the cholera toxin B-subunit pentamer. The compatibility of the crystal structure and conductance data is established.
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