Volume 6, Number 4, p.p. 163-165
Molecular mechanisms of microwave interactions with model ion channels
P.A. Grigoriev* and T.V. Pashovkin
Institute of Cell Biophyics , Russian Academy of Sciencies, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia
Model membranes were used to find the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of high frequency electromagnetic fields with the cell membrane and its ion channels. The cation-selective ion channel formed in the bilayer lipid membrane by the oligopeptide antibiotic alamethicin was used as a good model of typical cell channels. A 0.8 GHz electromagnetic wave of 10 W power, reversibly reduced the conductance of the model membrane to about 15% of its starting magnitude. We show that the observed effect of the electromagnetic field on the alamethicin channel can be explained by the rise of the local temperature of the membrane, and concomitant redistribution of the probability of the channel conductance states.
Keywords:
high frequency electromagnetic field, model ion channels.