PubMed · 1704796
A microscopic electrostatic model for the amphotericin B channel.
Abstract
A microscopic model of an amphotericin B channel is proposed. The structure of the pores is generated using the atomic coordinates of the molecule in the structure determined experimentally by X-ray diffraction. The net charges of the atoms are determined by Mulliken analysis. With these charges the electrostatic energy profiles are calculated for a monovalent ion passing through the channels formed by different number of antibiotic molecules having different radii. The water inside the channel was considered through a continuum medium using the dielectric constant of the bulk, and the membrane contribution was included using the virtual images of the pore in a dielectric slab of epsilon = 3. The model satisfactorily explains the permeability and selectivity characteristics as well as other observations yet unexplained. The electrostatic profiles obtained reinforce the hypothesis of the existence of channels formed by a variable number of units.
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M Bonilla-Marín, M Moreno-Bello, I Ortega-Blake. 1991-01-09. A microscopic electrostatic model for the amphotericin B channel.. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-2736(91)90269-e
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