A "convertible pore" model of neural membrane conductance.

Instead of the single-channel pore proposed earlier [Wooldridge, D. E. (1984) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81, 5609-5612] for the transit of conductance ions through the neural membrane, a pore with a second channel for "influence ions" of calcium or magnesium is considered in this paper. By entering trapping centers at the closed inner ends of the new channels, the influence ions are postulated to alter the rates of chemical reactions that change the configurational state of the gates guarding the inner ends of the nearby conductance channels. This makes the permeability of the conductance channels strongly dependent on voltage. Using a four-state reaction scheme for both the sodium and potassium pore systems, a computer model of the membrane conductance is constructed. When suitable values are assigned to its parameters, the model closely reproduces the results of the Hodgkin-Huxley voltage-clamp and action potential experiments.