title: Collective diffusion model for water permeation through microscopic channels.
abstract: Water permeation through nanometric channels, generally a coupled many-body process, is described in this study by a single collective coordinate. A collective diffusion model is proposed in which water movement at equilibrium is characterized as an unbiased diffusion along this coordinate and water transport in the presence of a chemical potential difference is described as one-dimensional diffusion in a linear potential. The model allows one to determine the osmotic permeability of a water channel from equilibrium simulations.
authors.affiliation: Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 N. Mathews, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Fangqiang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Emad
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tajkhorshid
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulten
mesh_terms: D020346:Aquaporins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020346:Aquaporins; D014867:Water