A comparative analysis of linear, nonlinear and improved nonlinear thermodynamic models of voltage-dependent ion channel kinetics

The linear, nonlinear and improved nonlinear thermodynamic models of the voltage-dependent ion channels were proposed to deduce the exact functional form of the rate constants. In this context, we present a comparative analysis of the linear, nonlinear and improved nonlinear thermodynamic models of voltage-dependent channel kinetics based on the sodium activation experimental data of Cav3.1 channel. We also provide some insight on the assumptions used to derive the thermodynamic models of the channels and show that the improved nonlinear thermodynamic model provides a simple and physically plausible approach to describe the behavior of the voltage-dependent ion channels.