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Gating Current

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

  • 31 Accesses

Definition

Gating current is the component of the neuronal transmembrane current due to the movement of charges attached to voltage-gated ion channels.

Detailed Description

Physical Basis

The proteins making up ion channels are arranged into subunits, which are further organized into segments. About a third of the amino acid residues in the S4 segments of voltage-gated ion channels are positively charged arginine and lysine. These gating charges are acted on by the electric field across the membrane, with the force changing the stability of ion channel conformations. The movement of the gating charges perpendicular to the membrane during conformation changes is the gating current. This is distinct from the ionic current, the current due to ions flowing through the channel pore.

The theory of ion channels opened and closed via gating charges was postulated by Hodgkin and Huxley (1952), although they used the term “gates” rather than “ion channels.” They predicted that gating current...

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References

  • Armstrong CM, Bezanilla F (1973) Currents related to movement of the gating particles of the sodium channels. Nature 242:459–461

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  • Hille B (2001) Ion channels of excitable membranes, 3rd edn. Sinauer, Sunderland

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  • Hodgkin AL, Huxley AF (1952) A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve. J Physiol 117:500–544

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Patlak J (1991) Molecular kinetics of voltage-dependent Na+ channels. Physiol Rev 71:1047–1080

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    David C. Sterratt

Authors
  1. David C. Sterratt
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David C. Sterratt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Ranu Jung

Section Editor information

  1. National Research Council, Institute of Biophysics, Palermo, Italy

    Michele Migliore

  2. Computational Physiology Lab, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Christiane Linster

  3. Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Francesco Cavarretta

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Sterratt, D.C. (2022). Gating Current. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1006-0_228

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