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A Biophysical Analysis of Mechano-electrical Transduction

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Principles of Receptor Physiology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Sensory Physiology ((SENSORY,volume 1))

Abstract

This treatise is an attempt to approach some basic problems of biological excitability in terms of nonlinear oscillation theory applied to membrane systems where there is a coupling between electrical and mechanical forces. The basic concept assumes that the excitable membrane contains fixed charges, i.e., ionic membranes of ion-exchange character. Such membranes are known to exhibit electrosmosis, i.e., transport of water owing to the combined effect of an electrical potential gradient and a hydrostatic pressure gradient. This mutual interdependence is the basis of the essential coupling between the mechanical and electrical events in the pressoreceptor analogs to be treated in this paper. In essence, our analysis is a combination of classical electrokinetics and nonlinear mechanics. It is believed that this gives a better overall description of the salient membrane phenomena. It deals with the total effects of the participating ions rather than with specific actions of particular ions such as sodium and potassium (as in the dominating Hodgkin-Huxley concepts). It should be stressed that the Hodgkin-Huxley mathematical description as well as the one presented here are formal representations and not necessarily mechanistic descriptions of events on the molecular membrane level. The main difference lies in the basic assumptions. The Hodgkin-Huxley hypothesis describes the membrane conductance in terms of specific voltage-time-dependent differences in permeabilities of the potassium and sodium ions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Uppsala, Sweden

    Torsten Teorell

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  1. Torsten Teorell
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York, 10032, USA

    W. R. Loewenstein

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© 1971 Springer-Verlag, Berlin · Heidelberg

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Teorell, T. (1971). A Biophysical Analysis of Mechano-electrical Transduction. In: Loewenstein, W.R. (eds) Principles of Receptor Physiology. Handbook of Sensory Physiology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65063-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-65063-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-65065-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-65063-5

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