Ion Transport Through Cell Membrane Channels Jan Gomułkiewicz1, Jacek Miękisz2 , and Stanisław Miękisz3 1 Institute of Physics, Wrocław Technical University; 2 Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Warsaw University; 3 Department of Biophysics,...
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Ion Transport Through Cell Membrane Channels Jan Gomułkiewicz1, Jacek Miękisz2 , and Stanisław Miękisz3 1 Institute of Physics, Wrocław Technical University; 2 Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, Warsaw University; 3 Department of Biophysics, Medical University of Wrocław Abstract. We discuss various models of ion transport through cell membrane channels. Recent experimental data shows that sizes of ion channels are compared to those of ions and that only few ions may be simultaneously in any single channel. Theoretical description of ion transport in such channels should therefore take into account interactions between ions and between ions and channel proteins. This is not satisfied by macroscopic continuum models based on Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations. More realistic descriptions of ion transport are offered by microscopic Brownian and molecular dynamics. One should also take into account a dynamical character of the channel structure. This is not yet addressed in the
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