BIOPHYSICAL THEORY AND MODELING |
Quasi-steady approximation for ion channel currents
Kajetan Bentele 1 and Martin Falcke 2*
1 Hahn Meitner Institute
2 Hahn-Meitner-Institute
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: falcke{at}hmi.de.
Submitted on January 12, 2007
Revised on February 27, 2007
Accepted on 29 May 2007
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Abstract |
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Currents through ion channels are determined (among other parameters) by the concentration difference across the membrane containing the channel and the diffusive transport of the conducted ion towards the channel and away from it. Calculation of the current requires to solve the diffusion equation around the channel. Here, we provide a quasi-steady approximation for the current and the local concentrations at the channel together with formulas linking the current and local concentrations at the channel to bulk concentrations and diffusion properties of the compartments.
Key Words:
cell signalling, intracellular Ca2+ dynamics, intracellular modelling, ion channels, reaction diffusion equations
