2003/11/25 by Matthew S. Turner, Pierre Sens
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Ion channel regulation and function #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #cond-mat.soft #q-bio.SC
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.93.118103
10 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2003/11/25 · openalex publication_date 2004/09/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We propose an alternative mechanism for the gating of biological membrane channels in response to membrane tension that involves a change in the slope of the membrane near the channel. Under biological membrane tensions we show that the energy difference between the closed (tilted) and open (untilted) states can far exceed k(B)T and is comparable to what is available under simple dilational gating. Recent experiments demonstrate that membrane leaflet asymmetries (spontaneous curvature) can strongly affect the gating of some channels. Such a phenomenon would be easier to explain under gating-by-tilt, given its novel intrinsic sensitivity to such asymmetry.