Abstract
Calculations based upon the membrane dipole model have been carried out and indicate the possibility of cooperative behavior during the membrane excitation process. An explicit expression is obtained for the critical electric field,E, which must be present to initiate the cooperative structural transition assumed to occur during membrane excitation. An hypothesis concerning the occurrence of two distinct phase transitions in the membrane resulting in the rapid influx of sodium ions and sodium ion inactivation, respectively, is presented.
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Almeida, S.P., Bond, J.D. & Ward, T.C. Electrically induced phase transitions via the dipole model in excitable membranes. Bltn Mathcal Biology 36, 17–28 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02461187
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02461187