Goldman equation

 ( Physical Chemistry ) 

The Goldman–Hodgkin–Katz voltage equation, sometimes called the Goldman equation, is used in cell membrane physiology to determine the resting potential across a cell's membrane, taking into account all of the ions that are permeant through that membrane.

The discoverers of this are David E. Goldman of Columbia University, and the Medicine Nobel laureates Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Bernard Katz.

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Equation for monovalent ions The GHK voltage equation for $n$ monovalent positive species $M\_\{i\}$ and $m$ negative species $A\_\{j\}$:

$E\_\{m\}\; =\; \backslash frac\{RT\}\{F\}\; \backslash ln\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; \backslash sum\_\{i\}^\{n\}\; P\_\{M^\{+\}\_\{i\}\}M^\{+\}\_\{i\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\; +\; \backslash sum\_\{j\}^\{m\}\; P\_\{A^\{-\}\_\{j\}\}A^\{-\}\_\{j\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\{\; \backslash sum\_\{i\}^\{n\}\; P\_\{M^\{+\}\_\{i\}\}M^\{+\}\_\{i\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\; +\; \backslash sum\_\{j\}^\{m\}\; P\_\{A^\{-\}\_\{j\}\}A^\{-\}\_\{j\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\}\; \backslash right)\; \}$

This results in the following if we consider a membrane separating two $\backslash mathrm\{K\}\_\{x\}\backslash mathrm\{Na\}\_\{1-x\}\backslash mathrm\{Cl\}$-solutions:

$E\_\{m,\; \backslash mathrm\{K\}\_\{x\}\backslash mathrm\{\backslash text\{Na\}\}\_\{1-x\}\backslash mathrm\{Cl\}\; \}\; =\; \backslash frac\{RT\}\{F\}\; \backslash ln\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Na\}\}\backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\; +\; P\_\{\backslash text\{K\}\}\backslash text\{K\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\; +\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Cl\}\}\backslash text\{Cl\}^\{-\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\; \}\{\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Na\}\}\backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\; +\; P\_\{\backslash text\{K\}\}\backslash text\{K\}^\{+\}\_\{\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\; +\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Cl\}\}\backslash text\{Cl\}^\{-\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\; \}\; \backslash right)\; \}$

It is "Nernst equation-like" but has a term for each permeant ion:

$E\_\{m,\backslash text\{Na\}\}\; =\; \backslash frac\{RT\}\{F\}\; \backslash ln\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Na\}\}\backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\}\{\; P\_\{\backslash text\{Na\}\}\backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\; \backslash right)\; \}=\backslash frac\{RT\}\{F\}\; \backslash ln\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; \backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\}\{\; \backslash text\{Na\}^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\; \backslash right)\; \}$

• $E\_\{m\}$ = the membrane potential (in )

• $P\_\backslash mathrm\{ion\}$ = the membrane permeability for that ion

• $\backslash mathrm\{ion\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}$ = the extracellular concentration of that ion

• $\backslash mathrm\{ion\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}$ = the intracellular concentration of that ion (in the same units as $\backslash mathrm\{ion\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}$)

• $R$ = the ideal gas constant

• $T$ = the temperature in kelvins

• $F$ = Faraday constant

The units for $P\_\backslash mathrm\{ion\}$ and $\backslash mathrm\{ion\}$ are not important, as they divide out of the equation. Concentrations are commonly expressed in millimoles per liter (also written “millimolar” or “mM”). Permeabilities have units of meters per second.

The scale factor $\backslash frac\{RT\}\{F\}$ is approximately 26.7 mV at human body temperature (37 °C). Some authors prefer replacing the natural logarithm, ln, with logarithms with base 10. That involves including a factor $(\backslash log\_\{10\}\backslash exp(1)^\{-1\}=\backslash ln(10)=2.30258...)$ in the scale factor, so that it becomes $26.7\backslash ,\backslash mathrm\{mV\}\backslash cdot2.303=61.5\backslash ,\backslash mathrm\{mV\}$, a value often used in neuroscience:

$E\_\{X\}\; =\; 61.5\; \backslash ,\; \backslash mathrm\{mV\}\backslash cdot\; \backslash log\_\{10\}\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; X^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\}\{\; X^\{+\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\; \backslash right)\; \}\; =\; -61.5\; \backslash ,\; \backslash mathrm\{mV\}\backslash cdot\; \backslash log\_\{10\}\{\; \backslash left(\; \backslash frac\{\; X^\{-\}\_\backslash mathrm\{out\}\}\{\; X^\{-\}\_\backslash mathrm\{in\}\}\; \backslash right)\; \}$

The ionic charge determines the sign of the membrane potential contribution. During an action potential, although the membrane potential changes about 100 mV, the concentrations of ions inside and outside the cell do not change significantly. They are always very close to their respective concentrations when the membrane is at their resting potential.

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Calculating the scale factor Using $R\; \backslash approx\; 8.3\; \backslash \; \backslash mathrm\{J\}\; \backslash cdot\; \backslash mathrm\{K\}^\{-1\}\; \backslash cdot\; \backslash mathrm\{mol\}^\{-1\}$, $F\; \backslash approx\; 9.6\; \backslash times\; 10^4\; \backslash \; \backslash mathrm\{C\}\; \backslash cdot\; \backslash mathrm\{mol\}^\{-1\}$, $T\; =\; 310\; \backslash \; \backslash mathrm\{K\}$ (assuming body temperature, $37\; \backslash \; ^\backslash circ\; \backslash mathrm\{C\}$), and the fact that one volt equals one joule of energy per coulomb of charge, the equation

$E\_X\; =\; \backslash frac\{RT\}\{zF\}\; \backslash ln\; \backslash frac\; \{X\_o\}\{X\_i\}$

can be reduced to

$\backslash begin\{align\}$

E_X & \approx \frac{0.0267 \ \mathrm{ V}}{z} \ln \frac {X_o}{X_i} \\

   & = \frac{26.7 \ \mathrm{ mV}}{z}  \ln \frac {X_o}{X_i} \\
   & \approx \frac{61.5 \ \mathrm{ mV} }{z} \log_{10} \frac {X_o}{X_i} &  \end{align}
     

which is the Nernst equation.

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Derivation Goldman's equation seeks to determine the voltage E _m across a membrane.

Junge D (1981). 9780878934102, Sinauer Associates. . ISBN 9780878934102

A Cartesian coordinate system is used to describe the system, with the z direction being perpendicular to the membrane. Assuming that the system is symmetrical in the x and y directions (around and along the axon, respectively), only the z direction need be considered; thus, the voltage E _m is the integral of the z component of the electric field across the membrane.

According to Goldman's model, only two factors influence the motion of ions across a permeable membrane: the average electric field and the difference in ionic concentration from one side of the membrane to the other. The electric field is assumed to be constant across the membrane, so that it can be set equal to E _m/ L, where L is the thickness of the membrane. For a given ion denoted A with valence n_A, its flux j_A—in other words, the number of ions crossing per time and per area of the membrane—is given by the formula

$$

\left( \frac{d\left}{dz} - \frac{n_{\mathrm{A}}F}{RT} \frac{E_{m}}{L} \left \right)

The first term corresponds to Fick's law of diffusion, which gives the flux due to diffusion down the concentration gradient, i.e., from high to low concentration. The constant D_A is the diffusion constant of the ion A. The second term reflects the flux due to the electric field, which increases linearly with the electric field; Formally, it is A multiplied by the drift velocity of the ions, with the drift velocity expressed using the Stokes–Einstein relation applied to electrophoresis. The constants here are the electric charge valence n_A of the ion A (e.g., +1 for K⁺, +2 for Ca²⁺ and −1 for Cl⁻), the temperature T (in ), the molar gas constant R, and the faraday F, which is the total charge of a mole of .

This is a first-order ODE of the form y' = ay + b, with y = A and y' = dA/d z; integrating both sides from z=0 to z= L with the boundary conditions A(0) = A_in and A( L) = A_out, one gets the solution

$$

where μ is a dimensionless number

$$

\mu = \frac{F E_{m}}{RT}

and P_A is the ionic permeability, defined here as

$$

P_{\mathrm{A}} = \frac{D_{\mathrm{A}}}{L}

The electric current current density J_A equals the charge q_A of the ion multiplied by the flux j_A

$$

Current density has units of (Amperes/m²). Molar flux has units of (mol/(s m²)). Thus, to get current density from molar flux one needs to multiply by Faraday's constant F (Coulombs/mol). F will then cancel from the equation below. Since the valence has already been accounted for above, the charge q_A of each ion in the equation above, therefore, should be interpreted as +1 or −1 depending on the polarity of the ion.

There is such a current associated with every type of ion that can cross the membrane; this is because each type of ion would require a distinct membrane potential to balance diffusion, but there can only be one membrane potential. By assumption, at the Goldman voltage E _m, the total current density is zero

$$

J_{tot} = \sum_{A} J_{A} = 0

(Although the current for each ion type considered here is nonzero, there are other pumps in the membrane, e.g. NaKATPase, not considered here which serve to balance each individual ion's current, so that the ion concentrations on either side of the membrane do not change over time in equilibrium.) If all the ions are monovalent—that is, if all the n_A equal either +1 or −1—this equation can be written

$$

w - v e^{\mu} = 0

whose solution is the Goldman equation

$$

\frac{F E_{m}}{RT} = \mu = \ln \frac{w}{v}

where

$$

w = \sum_{\mathrm{cations\ C}} P_{\mathrm{C}} \left_{\mathrm{out}} +

$$

v = \sum_{\mathrm{cations\ C}} P_{\mathrm{C}} \left_{\mathrm{in}} +

If divalent ions such as calcium are considered, terms such as e^2μ appear, which is the square of e^μ; in this case, the formula for the Goldman equation can be solved using the quadratic formula.

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See also

• Bioelectronics
• Cable theory
• GHK current equation
• Hindmarsh–Rose model
• Hodgkin–Huxley model
• Morris–Lecar model
• Nernst equation
• Saltatory conduction

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External links

• Subthreshold membrane phenomena Includes a well-explained derivation of the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation
• Nernst/Goldman Equation Simulator
• Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz Equation Calculator
• Nernst/Goldman interactive Java applet The membrane voltage is calculated interactively as the number of ions are changed between the inside and outside of the cell.
• Potential, Impedance, and Rectification in Membranes by Goldman (1943)

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