Abstract
IN 1952, Hodgkin and Huxley1 proposed the now classical differential equation that has become the accepted mathematical model for describing action potentials. In this equation there are three probability factors, m, n and h, which depend on transmembrane potential and time. Conceptually these probability factors are often considered to represent three field-dependent molecular gating mechanisms that mediate ionic flow through two transmembrane channels. The m and h gates mediate sodium currents and the n gate controls potassium flow. Electrical evidence has been presented for a molecular rearrangement associated with sodium activation (for example, m gate opening)2. This evidence is based on the detection of transient electrical currents in the axon membrane which are hypothesised to represent rearrangement of molecular dipoles.
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ROMINE, W., SCHOEPFLE, G., SMYTHIES, J. et al. Pharmacological evidence related to the existence of two sodium channel gating mechanisms. Nature 248, 797–799 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/248797a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/248797a0
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