title: Model properties underlying non-identifiability in single channel inference.
abstract: Models of ion channel kinetics subserve inferential methods applied to patch clamp data. For Markov models the density function of a sojourn time in a class of states is a mixture of exponentials. Determination of kinetic parameters from density functions may be complicated by non-uniqueness of solutions. This non-identifiability is investigated analytically for a class of two states, assuming detailed balance; relations between model properties, observable density parameters, and non-uniqueness are presented. The results are further developed in terms of similarity transform methods. Additional information provided by joint distributions is discussed. An example is given where identifiability of a model can be demonstrated explicitly. Attention is drawn to instances where the number of components in a density function may be misleading when used to infer the number of underlying states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Edeson
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Milne
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008390:Markov Chains; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels