Effect of charge fluctuations on the permeation of ions through biological ion channels

The effect of charge fluctuations at the mouth of an open ion channel on its conduction mechanism is analyzed within the framework of self‐consistent Brownian dynamics simulations. It is shown that volume charge fluctuations at the channel mouth can be modelled as a generalized shot noise and result in strong modulation of the potential barrier for an ion at the selectivity site, on a sub‐nanosecond time scale.