Ionic Coulomb blockade oscillations and the physical origins of permeation, selectivity, and their mutation transformations in biological ion channels
Our central aim is to understand conduction and selectivity in biological ion channels and artificial nanopores, taking advantage of the insights afforded by the recently discovered phenomenon of ionic Coulomb blockade (ICB), combined with the discreteness of the ions and their hydration shells. The ICB is a fundamental electrostatic phenomenon based on charge discreteness, electrostatic exclusion principle, and single-file stochastic ion motion through the channel. The theoretical and numerical results, obtained from the Brownian dynamics simulations, are tested against earlier observations and new experimental measurements on mutation transformations in bacterial sodium ion channels.
Relevant publications
- I.Kh.Kaufman et al., "Energetics of discrete selectivity bands and mutation-induced transitions in the calcium-sodium ion channels family", PRE 88, 052712 (2013)
- I.Kh.Kaufman et al., "Multi-ion conduction bands in a simple model of calcium ion channels", Phys. Biol. 10 (2013) 026007
-
I.Kh.Kaufman et al., "Coulomb blockade model of permeation and selectivity in biological ion channels", New J. Phys. 17 (2015) 083021
An outline video is also available. - I.Kh.Kaufman et al., "Putative resolution of the EEEE selectivity paradox in L-type Ca2+ and bacterial Na+ biological ion channels", J. Stat. Mech. Theor. Exp. 5, 054027 (2016)
- I.Kh.Kaufman, P.V.E.McClintock "Ionic Coulomb blockade", Nature 15, 825 (2016)
- I.Kh. Kaufman et al., "Effect of Local Binding on Stochastic Transport in Ion Channels", ArXiv
- C. Guardiani et al., "Sodium Binding Sites and Permeation Mechanism in the NaChBac Channel: A Molecular Dynamics Study", J. Chem. Theory Comput. 13(3), pp 1389-1400 (2017)