Functional asymmetry and plasticity of electrical synapses interconnecting neurons through a 36-state model of gap junction channel gating
Fig 1
A) Schematic of gap junction channel enclosing fast (blue arrows) and slow (red arrows) gates and their gating transitions. The fast gate can be in the open (o) or closed (c) states. The closed state of the fast gate exhibits residual conductance. The slow gate can reside in open (o) or in one of two fully closed states: initial-closed (c1) or deep-closed (c2). Gating probabilities depend on the transjunctional voltage (Vj), which is evaluated as a difference between membrane voltages of two adjacent cells (V1 and V2). B) Schematic of four gates arranged in series in a gap junction channel. Voltage distribution across each gate depends on their unitary conductances, which can rectify.