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Diagram of a voltage-gated ion channel, showing the three states: closed, open, and inactivated.Ball and chain inactivation can only happen if the channel is open. In neuroscience, ball and chain inactivation is a model to explain the fast inactivation mechanism of voltage-gated ion channels.
Sodium channels are highly selective for the transport of ions across cell membranes. The high selectivity with respect to the sodium ion is achieved in many different ways. All involve encapsulation of the sodium ion in a cavity of specific size within a larger molecule. [3]
Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs), also known as voltage-dependent sodium channels (VDSCs), are a group of voltage-gated ion channels found in the membrane of excitable cells (e.g., muscle, glial cells, neurons, etc.) with a permeability to the sodium ion Na +. They are the main channels involved in action potential of excitable cells.
When ion channels are in a 'closed' (non-conducting) state, they are impermeable to ions and do not conduct electrical current. When ion channels are in their open state, they conduct electrical current by allowing specific types of ions to pass through them, and thus, across the plasma membrane of the cell. Gating is the process by which an ...
Schematic diagram of an ion channel. 1 - channel domains (typically four per channel), 2 - outer vestibule, 3 - selectivity filter, 4 - diameter of selectivity filter, 5 - phosphorylation site, 6 - cell membrane. Ion channels are pore-forming membrane proteins that allow ions to pass through the channel pore.
Voltage-gated ion-channels are usually ion-specific, and channels specific to sodium (Na +), potassium (K +), calcium (Ca 2+), and chloride (Cl −) ions have been identified. [1] The opening and closing of the channels are triggered by changing ion concentration, and hence charge gradient, between the sides of the cell membrane.
In voltage-gated ion channels, the channel conductance is a function of both time and voltage ((,) in the figure), while in leak channels, , it is a constant (in the figure). The current generated by ion pumps is dependent on the ionic species specific to that pump.
Two-pore channels (TPCs) are eukaryotic intracellular voltage-gated and ligand gated cation selective ion channels. [1] There are two known paralogs in the human genome, TPC1s and TPC2s. [ 2 ] In humans, TPC1s are sodium selective and TPC2s conduct sodium ions, calcium ions and possibly hydrogen ions.