title: The creation of proton hopping from a drug-receptor encounter.
abstract: We extend recent modeling studies of proton hopping, used to describe the functioning of membrane channels and axon nerve conduction, to offer an explanation of the initiation of the nerve impulse at an effector-ligand encounter. This encounter is proposed to create a hydronium ion in the vicinity of the effector and ligand, which leads to a continuous flow of protons, called proton hopping, through water adjacent to this encounter. This proton hopping is proposed to be the message carried from the encounter to the axon of a particular nerve system associated with that particular effector-ligand system.
authors: Life Sciences, Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. lbkier@vcu.edu.
authors: Lemont B
authors: LB
authors: Kier
authors: Lowell H
authors: LH
authors: Hall
mesh_terms: D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011522:Protons; D011955:Receptors, Drug / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D011522:Protons; D011955:Receptors, Drug; D014867:Water
keywords: Cellular automata; Ligandeffector encounter; Membrane channels; Nerve impulse; Proton hopping; Recognition site