Investigation of Biological Ion Channels: Theoretical Formulation, Computer Simulation and Experimental Verification

Funded Activity Summary

All electrical activities in the brain are regulated by opening and closing of ion channels. Thus, undertanding their mechanisms at a molecular level is a fundamental problem in neurobiology. There are many different types of ion channels, each type fulfilling a different role. For the first time, a group of American scientists have determined the shape of one type of ion channels. Using this newly unveiled information, we propose to build a mathematical theory of ion channels. And then, making use of a powerful supercomputer, we propose to follow the motion of ions as they move through the channel, study how a channel can select only the correct type of ions to traverse it and determine how many ions a single channel is capable of processing per second. The predictions made by our theory and computer simulations will be checked experimentally. If the predictions and experimental findings do not agree, we will modify the theory and make new predictions.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2004

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $677,292.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Biophysics

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Antibiotics | Channel modelling | Epilepsy | Membrane biophysics | Membrane ion channel | Muscular dystrophy | Neurological disorders | Potassium and acetylcholine channels | Senile demensia | molecular and stochastic dynamics

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