Investigation of Biological Ion Channels: Theoretical Formulation, Computer Simulation and Experimental Verification

大脑中所有的电活动都是由离子通道的打开和关闭来调节的。因此，在分子水平上理解它们的机制是神经生物学的一个基本问题。有许多不同类型的离子通道，每种类型都有不同的作用。一组美国科学家首次确定了一种离子通道的形状。利用这些新发现的信息，我们建议建立一个离子通道的数学理论。然后，利用一台功能强大的超级计算机，我们建议跟踪离子在通道中的运动，研究通道如何选择正确类型的离子通过它，并确定单个通道每秒能够处理多少离子。我们的理论和计算机模拟所作的预测将在实验中得到验证。如果预测和实验结果不一致，我们将修改理论并做出新的预测。

All electrical activities in the brain are regulated by opening and closing of ion channels. Thus, undertanding their mechanisms at a molecular level is a fundamental problem in neurobiology. There are many different types of ion channels, each type fulfilling a different role. For the first time, a group of American scientists have determined the shape of one type of ion channels. Using this newly unveiled information, we propose to build a mathematical theory of ion channels. And then, making use of a powerful supercomputer, we propose to follow the motion of ions as they move through the channel, study how a channel can select only the correct type of ions to traverse it and determine how many ions a single channel is capable of processing per second. The predictions made by our theory and computer simulations will be checked experimentally. If the predictions and experimental findings do not agree, we will modify the theory and make new predictions.