Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jurisic, Nikola K., Cooper, Fred
Format: Preprint
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03575
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909789205823488
author Jurisic, Nikola K.
Cooper, Fred
author_facet Jurisic, Nikola K.
Cooper, Fred
contents We derive a charge conserving phase space cable equation for the propagating action potential, expressing ionic, capacitive and axoplasmic currents as functions of membrane potential. The new equation prediction of ionic current crossing the zero current axis twice as function of the propagation constant is confirmed by the Rosenthal-Bezanilla experimental data. Analysis of the ionic current during the recovery phase reveals an outward sodium current, unobserved in voltage clamp experiments, arising from the axoplasmic modulated Ohmic current creating a positive charge gradient opposing the sodium concentration gradient. Using a single assumption, that the fraction of open channels follows a time-dependent modified Avrami (mAvrami) equation that incorporates the ionic time rate yielding the fine structure constant as a dimensionless scaling factor, we fit experimental ionic currents across different ions and temperatures. The fitting results predict already established observations, including the delayed onset of sodium inactivation, the magnitude of gating charges, and the fact that the fraction of open sodium channels is about one fifth when most of the gating charges have moved. These alignments with already established facts logically increase the confidence that the remaining predictions/hypothesis will be confirmed by future experiments. The mAvrami kinetics predictions include a universal role for the fine-structure constant in ion traversing ionic channels, and temperature independent ionic activation energies are suggestive of quantum tunnelling. Further predictions reveal continuous phase transitions in sodium channels at both initiation and peak of the action potential implying symmetry changes in sodium channel states and pointing to a potential mechanism for memory encoding and storage. The calculated optimal sodium channel density matches observed values.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_1711_03575
institution arXiv
publishDate 2017
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Physics of the Propagating Action Potential
Jurisic, Nikola K.
Cooper, Fred
Other Quantitative Biology
We derive a charge conserving phase space cable equation for the propagating action potential, expressing ionic, capacitive and axoplasmic currents as functions of membrane potential. The new equation prediction of ionic current crossing the zero current axis twice as function of the propagation constant is confirmed by the Rosenthal-Bezanilla experimental data. Analysis of the ionic current during the recovery phase reveals an outward sodium current, unobserved in voltage clamp experiments, arising from the axoplasmic modulated Ohmic current creating a positive charge gradient opposing the sodium concentration gradient. Using a single assumption, that the fraction of open channels follows a time-dependent modified Avrami (mAvrami) equation that incorporates the ionic time rate yielding the fine structure constant as a dimensionless scaling factor, we fit experimental ionic currents across different ions and temperatures. The fitting results predict already established observations, including the delayed onset of sodium inactivation, the magnitude of gating charges, and the fact that the fraction of open sodium channels is about one fifth when most of the gating charges have moved. These alignments with already established facts logically increase the confidence that the remaining predictions/hypothesis will be confirmed by future experiments. The mAvrami kinetics predictions include a universal role for the fine-structure constant in ion traversing ionic channels, and temperature independent ionic activation energies are suggestive of quantum tunnelling. Further predictions reveal continuous phase transitions in sodium channels at both initiation and peak of the action potential implying symmetry changes in sodium channel states and pointing to a potential mechanism for memory encoding and storage. The calculated optimal sodium channel density matches observed values.
title Physics of the Propagating Action Potential
topic Other Quantitative Biology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03575