Thermodynamic Analysis of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels

Ion channel kinetics are highly sensitive to temperature changes. Creative Bioarray is committed to providing clients with thermodynamic analysis services of voltage-gated ion channels and studying the thermodynamic interactions between channels and their membrane environment, providing important information for understanding the molecular mechanisms of channel operation.

Introduction

In mammals, the rates of various physiological processes are closely related to temperature changes, including electrical excitability. Previous studies have shown that the change of electrical excitability caused by temperature is mainly due to the change of transition rate that controls the function of ion channel and the change of ion channel conductance. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how temperature affects voltage-gated channels for simulating neuronal excitability under physiological temperature. However, at present, most detailed biological models of neuronal excitability use channel dynamics recorded at room temperature, and few studies focus on the detailed dynamic analysis of channels at physiological temperature.

To date, voltage-gated ion channels are the most widely studied ion channel superfamily, which have modular structural features, such as pore-forming domains and voltage-sensing domains, that are closely related in their functions in sensing and responding to membrane potential changes. The function and structure of these channels have been extensively studied, providing a scientific basis for investigating the relationship between their common structural features and the thermodynamic basis of their common voltage sensing mechanism.

Fig. 1 Simulated and experimental effect of temperature on action potential. (Almog, 2022)

Our Services

In order to quantitatively study the temperature sensitivity of voltage-gated ion channels and the molecular driving forces behind channel protein conformational changes, we provide customers with professional thermodynamic analysis services, including but not limited to:

• Thermodynamic analysis of channel voltage-sensing mechanisms.
  In the absence of a detailed kinetic model, we calculate the chemical free energies required to activate voltage-dependent processes in the channels by measuring the conjugate displacements related to the forces driving the activation of these channels. With this approach, we can help customers achieve the measurement of the interaction energies between voltage- and ligand-dependent paths.
• Modeling voltage-gated ion channel dynamics at physiological temperature.
  We simulated the dynamics of voltage-gated channels as a function of temperature by recording ionic currents in nucleated plaques extracted from neurons at different temperatures. Our kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of the current provides a numerical model across the entire temperature range to reproduce important features of channel activation and deactivation.
• Temperature-dependent analysis of voltage-gated channel activation.
• Kinetics and thermodynamic analysis of channel activation.
• Temperature-dependent analysis of voltage-gated channel inactivation.
• Kinetics and thermodynamic analysis of channel inactivation.

Applications

• Delineation of molecular interaction pathways
• Research on the mechanisms of voltage-transduction
• Detailed modeling of neuronal excitability

Creative Bioarray is committed to offering professional and high-quality thermodynamic analysis services, providing our clients with valuable information for elucidating the thermodynamics of voltage sensing mechanisms and understanding the effect of temperature on action potentials for detailed modeling of neuronal excitability. If you are interested in our services, please contact us for more details.

Reference

1. Almog, M.; et al. Kinetic and thermodynamic modeling of a voltage-gated sodium channel. European Biophysics Journal, 2022, 51(3): 241-256.