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Membrane Physiology pp 217–241Cite as

Ion Selectivity in Membrane Permeation

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Abstract

A basic function of cell membranes is discrimination in their permeability to such closely related ions as Na+ and K+, Ca2 + and Mg2 +, or Cl−and I−. This ionic discrimination underlies such basic cellular phenomena as the generation of resting potentials, action potentials, receptor potentials, transmitter release, active transport, and enzyme activation. The present chapter has two purposes: to compare the ion discrimination observed for the passive permeation of cell membranes with that induced in artificial lipid bilayer membranes by certain ion translocators*; and to examine the most salient theories and approaches toward determining the molecular origins of ionic discrimination in membrane transport.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and the Ahmanson Neurobiology Laboratory of the Brain Research Institute, University of California Medical School, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Sally Krasne

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  1. Sally Krasne
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 77025, Houston, TX, USA

    Thomas E. Andreoli M.D. (Professor and Chairman) (Professor and Chairman)

  2. Department of Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 06510, New Haven, CT, USA

    Joseph F. Hoffman Ph.D. (Eugene Higgins Professor and Chairman) (Eugene Higgins Professor and Chairman)

  3. Division of Nephrology, University of California, San Diego, 92037, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Darrell D. Fanestil M.D. (Professor of Medicine, and Head) (Professor of Medicine, and Head)

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Krasne, S. (1980). Ion Selectivity in Membrane Permeation. In: Andreoli, T.E., Hoffman, J.F., Fanestil, D.D. (eds) Membrane Physiology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1718-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-1718-1_12

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