Hamburg 2001 – scientific programme

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DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 15: Statistische Physik in biologischen Systemen I

DY 15.3: Talk

Monday, March 26, 2001, 15:15–15:30, S 7

Pattern formation of transmembrane proteins with internal states — •stephan kramer, reiner kree, and henning loewe — Institut fuer theoretische Physik, Georg-August-Universität, Bunsenstrasse 9, 37073 Göttingen

We present a theoretical model describing electrophoretic drift and diffusion of membrane bound ion channels. These can switch between conducting and non-conducting conformations, which differ in mobility as well as in electrophoretic charge. The ion channels’ charge distribution is taken into account either as a point charge or as a dipole. Former work of P. Fromherz et al is included as a special case. We look for pattern forming instabilities and derive an amplitude equation to study the dynamics in the vicinity of the critical point. We find a transition from soft- to hard-mode instabilities depending on the charges’ difference between the conducting and non-conducting conformations.