In Chapter 4 we saw a number of basic facts about membrane excitability: The conductance of the open state is highly selective to ion species. The voltage-sensitive ion conducting system is temperature-sensitive and has a heat-block temperature. Pulsing the temperature abruptly changes the membrane conductance. The membrane has significant optical properties, particularly birefringence. The membrane has significant electromechanical properties: It may respond to electrical stimuli by mechanical changes, as shown by membrane swelling experiments, and it may respond to mechanical stimuli by opening or closing, as in mechanoreceptor molecules. At least some ion-conducting systems exhibit inactivation.
These properties were detected and measured by macroscopic experiments, and do not reveal the microscopic nature of the underlying structures. However, several facts lead the way into the microscopic world. These include:
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The peculiar behavior of the admittance, described by fractional power relations.
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The measurement of electrical fluctuations shows motions that can only originate from molecular structures.
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The closed state is locked in by certain neurotoxins, such as TTX, when externally applied. These function by binding to the ion channel in a 1:1 fashion.
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(2009). Ion Channels, Proteins And Transitions. In: Leuchtag, H.R. (eds) Voltage-Sensitive Ion Channels. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5525-6_12
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