Self-organized Models of Selectivity in Ca and Na Channels

My collaborators and I [2] study selectivity in ion channels. Ion channels are proteins with a hole down their middle that are the (nano nearly pico)valves of life. Ion channels control an enormous range of biological function in health and disease. A large amount of data is available about selectivity in many channels. Selectivity in ion channels occurs without structural change of the channel protein (on the biological time scale of 10-5 sec or longer) and does not involve changes in covalent bonds (i.e., changes in shape of electron orbitals). Selectivity in channels involves only electrodiffusion—usually of charged hard spheres. Thus, physical analysis of selectivity in ion channels is easier than analysis of specificity in enzymes or many other proteins while being at least as important biologically.