title: Investigating the dielectric effects of channel pore water on the electrostatic barriers of the permeation ion by the finite difference Poisson-Boltzmann method.
abstract: In this paper, the finite difference Poisson-Boltzmann (FDPB) method with four dielectric constants is developed to study the effect of dielectric saturation on the electrostatic barriers of the permeation ion. In this method, the inner shape of the channel pore is explicitly represented, and the fact that the dielectric constant inside the channel pore is different from that of bulk water is taken into account. A model channel system which is a righthanded twist bundle with four alpha-helical segments is provided for this study. From the FDPB calculations, it is found that the difference of the ionic electrostatic solvation energy for wider domains depends strongly on the pore radius in the vicinity of the ion when the pore dielectric constant is changed from 78 to 5. However, the electrostatic solvation energy of the permeation ion can not be significantly affected by the dielectric constant in regions with small pore radii. Our results indicate that the local electrostatic interactions inside the ion channel are of major importance for ion electrostatic solvation energies, and the effect of dielectric saturation on the electrostatic barriers is coupled to the interior channel dimensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P. R. China.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: C X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: W Z
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Y Y
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D003198:Computer Simulation; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D055672:Static Electricity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D014867:Water