Title :
Do sodium channels in biological membranes undergo ferroelectric-superionic transitions?
Author :
Leuchtag, H. Richard
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Biol., Texas Southern Univ., Houston, TX, USA
Abstract :
It is proposed that the sodium channels present in nerve and muscle membranes are ferroelectric in the resting state of the membrane. A threshold depolarization induces a phase transition of these glycoprotein macromolecules to a superionic phase, in which the conductance for sodium ions is high. This hypothesis explains the origin of the transient inward current and other channel properties and provides an approach to microscopic structure-function relationships
Keywords :
biomembrane transport; dielectric depolarisation; ferroelectric transitions; molecular biophysics; proteins; sodium; superionic conducting materials; Na; Na ion conductance; channel properties; ferroelectric Na channels; glycoprotein macromolecules; microscopic structure-function relationships; muscle membranes; nerve; phase transition; resting state; superionic phase; threshold depolarization; transient inward current; Animal structures; Biomembranes; Conducting materials; Evolution (biology); Ferroelectric materials; Microscopy; Muscles; Nerve fibers; Organisms; Tail;
Conference_Titel :
Applications of Ferroelectrics, 1990., IEEE 7th International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Urbana-Champaign, IL
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0190-0
DOI :
10.1109/ISAF.1990.200241
