https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00261-2
Regular Article - Living Systems
Impacts of external electric fields on the permeation of glycerol and water molecules through aquaglyceroporin-7: molecular dynamics simulation approach
Department of Physics, University of Isfahan, P.O. Box 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran
Received:
23
October
2022
Accepted:
9
January
2023
Published online:
19
January
2023
The aquaglyceroporin-7 (AQP7) protein channels facilitate the permeation of glycerol and water molecules through cell membranes by passive diffusion and play a crucial role in cell physiology. Considering the wide-spirit usage of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in our daily life, in this study, the effects of constant and GHz electric fields were investigated on the dynamics of glycerol and water molecules inside the AQP7. To this end, four different molecular simulation groups were carried out in the absence and presence of electric fields. The results reveal that the free energy profile of the glycerol permeation inside the channel is reduced in the presence of the field of 0.2 mV/nm and the oscillating field of 10 GHz. In addition, exposing the channel to the electric field of 0.2 mV/nm assisted the water transport through the channel with no considerable effect on channel stability. These observations provide a framework for understanding how such fields could alter normal operation of protein channels, which may lead to disease beginning or being used in disease treatment.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/s10189-023-00261-2.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, SIF and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
