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Lipid Function in Excitable Membranes

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Frontiers in Visual Science

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Optical Sciences ((SSOS,volume 8))

Abstract

Excitable membranes are molecular bilayers which regulate ionic transport rates as a function of stimulus parameters, and in this way, generate the electrical messages of the nervous system. HODGKIN and HUXLEY (1) have provided an elegant description of the excitable characteristics of the squid axon. The HODGKINHUXLEY equation describes how ionic transport rates are regulated selectively by the squid membrane, but it does not provide a molecular explanation for the way the lipids and proteins of the membrane accomplish this regulation (2–7). Our understanding of the molecular events in the excitable process is very incomplete at the present time.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sensory Sciences Center, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    R. M. Benolken

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  1. R. M. Benolken
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Optometry, University of Houston, 77004, Houston, Texas, USA

    Steven J. Cool  & Earl L. Smith III  & 

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© 1978 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Benolken, R.M. (1978). Lipid Function in Excitable Membranes. In: Cool, S.J., Smith, E.L. (eds) Frontiers in Visual Science. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-35397-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-35397-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-15815-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-35397-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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