Definition
A major unit in computational multi-scale modeling in epilepsy is the ion channel. Ion channels can be represented in silico by discreet mathematical formulas describing their biophysical properties while detecting and responding to a stimulus. The stimulus causes the channel protein to undergo a series of three-dimensional conformation changes which opens or closes the channel which regulates ion flow through the transmembrane pore formed by alpha-helix polypeptide subunits.
Detailed Description
Ion Channel Function
Fundamentally, an ion channel acts as an energetically favorable pathway for small charged molecules (ions) to pass through the cell membrane (Hille 1984). Ion channels are integral transmembrane proteins that exist as oligogenic macromolecular complexes including a pore-forming alpha subunit and modulatory and accessory subunits (Sharman et al. 2013; Alexander et al. 2011)....
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Klassen, T. (2013). Epilepsy: Abnormal Ion Channels. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_739-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_739-1
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