BME 210
MOLECULAR BASIS OF MEMBRANE TRANSPORT

1. Intermolecular forces. Review of basic physical principles governing interactions between atoms, ions, molecules, and surfaces. Methods of measurements of molecular interactions.

2. Lipid bilayer matrix of the membranes. Structure and properties of lipid bilayers. Molecular basis and models of electroporation. Experimental measurements of the electroporation process. Applications of electroporation to drug delivery and gene therapy.

3. Introduction to ionic channels. Types of ionic channels: nAchR channel and other chemically gated channels, voltage gated channels, pressure sensitive channels, second messenger sensitive channels. Experimental methods of investigating the activity of channels: voltage clamp, fluctuation analysis, patch clamp.

4. Molecular structure of channels. Use of methods of molecular biology to investigate the structure of channels. Molecular structures of different types of channels.

5. Static properties of channels---permeability and selectivity. Theoretical basis of permeability. Electrodiffusion models, rate theory models, molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo models. Molecular basis of selectivity. Selectivity filters in different types of channels.

6. Dynamic properties of channels---gating and modulation. Molecular basis of gating. Gating currents. Two-state and multi-state channel kinetis. Markovian models. Gating in different types of channels. Modulation of channels function. The role of surface charges.

7. Gap junctions. Molecular structure of gap junctions and principles of their operation. Gating of gap junctions. Modeling current flow and diffusion through gap junctions.

Prerequisites: Bio 25 and Math 107 or consent of the instructor.

Grading: Participation in class, homeworks, and computer labs. Each student will prepare and conduct a seminar based on individual readings from the literature. (4 units)