Simulating ion permeation through the OmpF Porin ion channel using three-dimensional drift-diffusion theory (original) (raw)
Related papers
2002
Drift-diffusion models are useful for studying ion transport in open protein channel systems over time scales that cannot be resolved practically by detailed molecular dynamics or quantum approaches. Water is treated as a uniform background medium with a specific dielectric constant and macroscopic current flow is resolved by assigning an appropriate mobility and diffusivity to each ionic species. The solution of Poisson's equation over the entire domain provides a simple way to include external boundary conditions and image force effects at dielectric discontinuities. Here we present a 3-D drift-diffusion model of ion (K+ and Cl−) permeation through the porin channel ompF, and its mutant G119D, implemented using the computational platform PROPHET.
BioMOCA: A Transport Monte Carlo Model for Ion Channels
Journal of Computational Electronics, 2003
Ion channels are proteins that form natural water-filled nanotubes in the membranes of all biological cells. They regulate ion transport in and out of the cell thereby maintaining the correct internal ion composition that is crucial to cell survival and function. Every channel carries a strong permanent charge, which plays a critical role in the conduction mechanisms of the open channel. Many channels can selectively transmit or block a particular ion species and most have switching properties similar to electronic devices. These device-like features are appealing to the electronics community for their possible application in the design of novel bio-devices. Here we describe a three-dimensional (3-D) transport Monte Carlo ion channel simulation, BioMOCA, based on the approach taken in semiconductor device simulations. Since ion diameters are comparable with channel dimensions a physical model of the volume of the ions must also be included.
Electrodiffusion Model Simulation of Ionic Channels: 1D Simulations
Journal of Computational Electronics, 2004
The drift-diffusion (Poisson-Nernst-Planck) model is applied to ionic channels in biological membranes plus surrounding solution baths. Simulations of the K channel in KCl solutions using the TRBDF2 method are presented which show significant boundary layers at the ends of the channel. The computed current-voltage curve for the K channel shows excellent agreement with experimental measurements.
A Review of Mathematical Modeling, Simulation and Analysis of Membrane Channel Charge Transport
The molecular mechanism of ion channel gating and substrate modulation is elusive for many voltage gated ion channels, such as eukaryotic sodium ones. The understanding of channel functions is a pressing issue in molecular biophysics and biology. Mathematical modeling, computation and analysis of membrane channel charge transport have become an emergent field and give rise to significant contributions to our understanding of ion channel gating and function. This review summarizes recent progresses and outlines remaining challenges in mathematical modeling, simulation and analysis of ion channel charge transport. One of our focuses is the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) model and its generalizations. Specifically, the basic framework of the PNP system and some of its extensions, including size effects, ion-water interactions, coupling with density functional theory and relation to fluid flow models. A reduced theory, the Poisson-Boltzmann-Nernst-Planck (PBNP) model, and a differential geometry based ion transport model are also discussed. For proton channel, a multiscale and multiphysics Poisson-Boltzmann-Kohn-Sham (PBKS) model is presented. We show that all of these ion channel models can be cast into a unified variational multiscale framework with a macroscopic continuum domain of the solvent and a microscopic discrete domain of the solute. The main strategy is to construct a total energy functional of a charge transport system to encompass the polar and nonpolar free energies of solvation and chemical potential related energies. Using the Euler-Lagrange variation, the coupled PNP equations and other transport equations are derived, whose solutions lead to the minimization of the total free energy and explicit profiles of electrostatic potential and densities of charge species. Current computational algorithms and tools for numerical simulations and results from mathematical analysis of ion channel systems are also surveyed. As this review will be frequently updated, to help improve it, please do not hesitate to send corrections and suggestions to the authors.
Biophysical Journal, 2011
We have studied the dynamics of chloride and potassium ions in the interior of the OmpF porin under the influence of an external electric field. From the results of extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of the system we computed several first passage time (FPT) quantities to characterize the dynamics of the ions in the interior of the channel. Such FPT quantities obtained from MD simulations demonstrate that it is not possible to describe the dynamics of chloride and potassium ions inside the whole channel with a single constant diffusion coefficient. However, we showed that a valid, statistically rigorous, description in terms of a constant diffusion coefficient D and an effective deterministic force F eff can be obtained after appropriate subdivison of the channel in different regions suggested by the X-ray structure. These results have important implications for popular simplified descriptions of channels based on the 1D Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) equations. Also, the effect of entropic barriers on the diffusion of the ions is identified and briefly discussed.
Physical Review E, 2011
We have studied the dynamics of chloride and potassium ions in the interior of the Outer membrane porin F (OmpF) under the influence of an external electric field. From the results of extensive all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the system, we computed several first-passage-time (FPT) quantities to characterize the dynamics of the ions in the interior of the channel. Such FPT quantities obtained from MD simulations demonstrate that it is not possible to describe the dynamics of chloride and potassium ions inside the whole channel with a single constant diffusion coefficient. However, we showed that a valid, statistically rigorous description in terms of a constant diffusion coefficient D and an effective deterministic force Feff can be obtained after appropriate subdivison of the channel in different regions suggested by the x-ray structure. These results have important implications for popular simplified descriptions of channels based on the one-dimensional Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations. Also, the effect of entropic barriers on the diffusion of the ions is identified and briefly discussed.
Biophysical Journal, 2010
We performed all-atom molecular dynamics simulations studying the partition of ions and the ionic current through the bacterial porin OmpF and two selected mutants. The study is motivated by new interesting experimental findings concerning their selectivity and conductance behaviour at neutral pH. The mutations considered here are designed to study the effect of removal of negative charges present in the constriction zone of the wild type OmpF channel (which contains on one side a cluster with three positive residues and on the other side two negatively charged residues). Our results show that these mutations induce an exclusion of cations from the constriction zone of the channel, substantially reducing the flow of cations. In fact, the partition of ions inside the mutant channels is strongly inhomogeneous, with regions containing excess of cations and regions containing excess of anions. Interestingly, the overall number of cations inside the channel is larger than the number of anions in the two mutants, as in the OmpF wild type channel. We found that the differences in ionic charge inside these channels are justified by the differences in electric charge between the wild type OmpF and the mutants, following an electroneutral balance.
Brownian dynamics simulation of ion flow through porin channels
Journal of Molecular Biology, 1999
Bacterial porins, which allow the passage of solutes across the outer bacterial membrane, are structurally well characterized. They therefore lend themselves to detailed studies of the determinants of ion flow through transmembraneous channels. In a comparative study, we have performed Brownian dynamics simulations to obtain statistically significant transfer efficiencies for cations and anions through matrix porin OmpF, osmoporin OmpK36, phosphoporin PhoE and two OmpF charge mutants. The simulations show that the electrostatic potential at the highly charged channel constriction serves to enhance ion permeability of either cations or anions, dependent on the type of porin. At the same time translocation of counterions is not severely impeded. At the constriction, cations and anions follow distinct trajectories, due to the segregation of basic and acidic protein residues. Simulated ion selectivity and relative conductance agree well with experimental values, and are dependent crucially on the charge constellation at the pore constriction. The experimentally observed decrease in ion selectivity and single channel conductance with increasing ionic strength is well reproduced and can be attributed to electrostatic shielding of the pore lining.
Validity of the Electrodiffusion Model for Calculating Conductance of Simple Ion Channels
The journal of physical chemistry. B, 2016
We examine the validity and utility of the electrodiffusion (ED) equation, i.e., the generalized Nernst-Planck equation, to characterize, in combination with molecular dynamics, the electrophysiological behavior of simple ion channels. As models, we consider three systems-two naturally occurring channels formed by α-helical bundles of peptaibols, trichotoxin, and alamethicin, and a synthetic, hexameric channel, formed by a peptide that contains only leucine and serine. All these channels mediate transport of potassium and chloride ions. Starting with equilibrium properties, such as the potential of mean force experienced by an ion traversing the channel and diffusivity, obtained from molecular dynamics simulations, the ED equation can be used to determine the full current-voltage dependence with modest or no additional effort. The potential of mean force can be obtained not only from equilibrium simulations, but also, with comparable accuracy, from nonequilibrium simulations at a si...