Regensburg 2002 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 10: Statistische Physik in biologischen Systemen

DY 10.1: Hauptvortrag

Montag, 11. März 2002, 09:30–10:00, H2

Signals of Clustered Ion channels — •Peter Jung — Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens OH 45701

Is is known that ion channels in cell membranes are spatially clustered in many cases. On the other hand, ion channels are key players for signal processing in cells. For example, ionic conductance through sodium and potassium channels shape the action potential elicited by neurons, and clusters of calcium release channels in the membrane of intracellular stores regulate the intracellular concentration of calcium ions which in turn triggers other important cellular functions such as secretion of hormones and wound response. It is therefore a reasonable proposal that the spatial clustering of these channels may impact their capability of signal transduction. Clustering of ion channels creates functional units that are small in size (the typical size of a cluster of calcium release channels has been reported to be of the order of 100nm). The conductance of clusters is thus subject to internal fluctuations. We will report on recent theoretical results of my group that suggest that clustering of ion channels may enhance signal transduction by exploiting synergetic effects of internal fluctuations and nonlinear ionic conductance.

Acknowledgements: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (USA) under Grant No. IBN-0078055.