title: Models of membrane electrostatics.
abstract: Formulas are derived for the electrostatic potential of a charge in or near a membrane modeled as one or more dielectric slabs lying between two semi-infinite dielectrics. One can use these formulas in Monte Carlo codes to compute the distribution of ions near cell membranes more accurately than by using Poisson-Boltzmann theory or its linearized version. Here I use them to discuss the electric field of a uniformly charged membrane, the image charges of an ion, the distribution of salt ions near a charged membrane, the energy of a zwitterion near a lipid slab, and the effect of including the phosphate head groups as thin layers of high electric permittivity.
authors.affiliation: Biophysics Group, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA. cahill@unm.edu
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cahill
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry*; D017097:Electric Impedance; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055672:Static Electricity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers