Gating Mechanism of Mechanosensitive Ion Channels Studied by Continuum Mechanics

Abstract

To complement the existing experimental and computational methods used for studies of membrane protein structure and dynamics a finite element (FE) model for multi length-scale and time-scale investigations of the gating mechanism of mechanosensitive (MS) ion channels has been established. The main advantage of the FE simulation over molecular dynamic simulation is its flexibility in handling complex geometries and boundary conditions. In this study the FE model of MscL, the large conductance bacterial MS channel, has been developed as an initial template providing a continuum structural framework for a mechanistic understanding of the gating mechanism in MS channels, which can also be employed to develop structural dynamic models of other types of MS channels. Show more