title: Volume exclusion in calcium selective channels.
abstract: Another research group has proposed an interesting model for calcium channel selectivity. However, on the basis of their reported results we find it impossible to assess the merits of their model because their results and claims concerning selectivity are based on an extrapolation over four orders of magnitude to low Ca(2+) concentration. Their results and claims have been presented in several articles and reviews in several journals and, thus, need attention. In this article, we first establish that we obtain results on electrostatics and channel occupancies similar to the high-concentration simulations they present. We then perform grand canonical ensemble simulations that enable us to study micromolar Ca(2+) concentrations. We find that their model channel is only weakly Ca(2+) selective. A crucial problem with their model appears to be the placement of the negatively charged glutamate structural elements in fixed positions inside the protein rather than as flexible units inside the filter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biophysics and Physiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA. dezso_boda@rush.edu
authors.forename: Dezso
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boda
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nonner
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eisenberg
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gillespie
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D002118:Calcium