ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacology of Ion Channels and Channelopathies
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1532697
The Interplay of Polarizable Water and Protein in the Activation of the M2 Channel
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- 2Vienna Doctoral School in Chemistry (DoSChem), Vienna, Austria
- 3Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany
- 4Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
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The M2 proton channel within the Influenza A virus constitutes an essential element for viral replication, with its functionality depending on the protonation states of four histidine residues located within the channel. This study meticulously investigates the impact of polarizability on the channel's gating dynamics across various protonation states, employing both polarizable and non-polarizable models for water, protein, and membrane. Through a comprehensive analysis, we elucidate the nuanced role of polarizability in the channel's operational mechanisms, differentiating between the solvent and protein polarizable effects. This investigation not only enriches our understanding of the M2 channel's biophysical behavior but also highlights the significance of polarizability.
Keywords: Influenza A virus, M2 proton channel, polarizability, Channel gating dynamics, molecular dynamics simulations
Received: 22 Nov 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gődény, Kovács, Aman, Rungrotmongkol and Schröder. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Christian Schröder, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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