70
Modeling of Biomolecular Systems Interactions, Dynamics, and Allostery Poster Session I
16-POS
Board 16
Energetics of Single- and Multi-Ion Permeation in Sodium and Calcium Channels
Murat Çavus
1
,
Turgut Bastug
2
, Serdar Kuyucak
3
.
2
TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Ankara, Turkey,
1
Bozok University, Yozgat,
Turkey,
3
Sydney University, NSW, Australia.
Recent determination of the molecular structures of voltage gated NavAB and CavAB channels
from x-ray crystallography has led to a renewed interest in these ion channels. The pore
architecture of them suggests a conduction pathway involving transitions between two main
states with one or two hydrated Na
+
/Ca
2+
ions bound in the selectivity filter. Molecular dynamics
methods are the only physically valid methods for studying the structure function relations in ion
channels. Applications of these methods to sodium and calcium channels are presented, which
illustrate the multi-ion nature of the permeation mechanism in selective biological channels.
