Counting translocations of strongly repelling particles through single channels: fluctuation theorem for membrane transport

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Jan 25;100(3):038104. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.038104. Epub 2008 Jan 24.

Abstract

Transport of strongly repelling particles through a single membrane channel is analyzed assuming that the channel cannot be occupied by more than one particle. An exact solution is found for the Laplace transform of the probability P_{n}(t) that n particles have been transported in time t. This transform is used to find the flux through the channel and to show that P_{n}(t) and P_{-n}(t) are related by the fluctuation theorem. The solution is obtained using an observation that P_{n}(t) is the propagator for a non-Markovian random walk, which can be found by solving a set of integral equations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Ion Channels / chemistry*
  • Ion Channels / metabolism
  • Membranes / chemistry*
  • Membranes / metabolism
  • Models, Biological
  • Models, Chemical*

Substances

  • Ion Channels