Charge distributions of active biological pores

Charge distributions associated with active biological pores are calculated. The charge distributions include rings of reverse-sign, current-turning charges which surround the entrance and exit ends of the pore and cause current to turn into the pore at its entrance end (e.g., the intracellular side of a potassium pore) and to turn outward from the pore at its exit end (e.g., the extracellular side of a potassium pore). The magnitude and spatial extent of the rings depend directly on the magnitude of the current passing through the pore. In the absence of current, the rings disappear and when, for example, the pore´s resistance becomes the dominant resistance in the system, the magnitude and spatial extent of the rings saturate. The reverse-sign, current-turning charges affect the local environment of proteins, such as ligand-binding proteins, known to reside adjacent to biological pores. The charges are thus expected to play a role in pore function such as by modulating the binding of charged species to the binding proteins.