The effects of non-identifiability on testing for detailed balance in aggregated Markov models for ion-channel gating

Biophys J. 2000 Dec;79(6):2918-24. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(00)76529-5.

Abstract

Aggregated Markov models are a widely used tool to model patch clamp data measured from single ion channels. These channels must obey the principle of detailed balance in thermodynamic equilibrium; otherwise, the channel is driven by an external source of energy. We investigate the power of a likelihood ratio test for detailed balance for a number of data points which is in the order of magnitude of patch clamp experiments. We show that for certain models with nearly equal dwell times, a test for detailed balance suffers from a loss of power to detect violations of detailed balance which is due to the non-identifiability of the transition rates for models with equal dwell times.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Ion Channel Gating*
  • Ion Channels / physiology*
  • Kinetics
  • Markov Chains*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Ion Channels