The electric behavior of excitable membranes reflects the properties of the ion channels embedded in their lipid matrix and the composition of the aqueous media. To further our goal of explaining the behavior of the voltage-sensitive ion channels, we will review the physics of condensed materials with an eye to possible clues to the understanding of these channels. If we are to have a fair start in understanding their behavior in basic physical terms, we should be sure we understand how the behavior of simpler forms of matter is explained by condensed matter physics.
We will clarify our ideas about the quantum basis of matter and review the way material structures undergo cooperative changes, phase transitions, in their large-scale conformation. From there we will explore the way these macroscopic phenomena arise from the atomic structure of matter. These elementary principles should help us apply the principles of physics to the configurational transitions that ion channels undergo.
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Notes And References
B. S. Chandrasekhar, Why Things Are the Way They Are, Cambridge University, 1998, 5.
The electron volt (eV) is the change of potential energy of an electronic charge moved against the potential difference of one volt.
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This law has been expressed in several ways: A transformation whose only final result is to transform into work heat extracted from a source which is at the same temperature throughout is impossible (Kelvin). A transformation whose only final result is to transfer heat from a body at a given temperature to a body at a higher temperature is impossible (Clausius).
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Finkelstein, 122.
Finkelstein, 188.
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(2009). Aspects Of Condensed Matter. In: Leuchtag, H.R. (eds) Voltage-Sensitive Ion Channels. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5525-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5525-6_5
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