- It's clear from the name that these channels are sensitive to voltage changes but how exactly voltage changes transform them into actual channels?
Norbert Weiss
Hi Hanie,
Short answer: the term "voltage-gated" comes from the fact that those channels are open in response to change of the electrical membrane potential. Usually, those channels have a so-called voltage-sensor, a specific region in the channel molecular, that senses the voltage and move accordingly into the plasma membrane. This initial movement induce a second change of the channel conformation leading to the opening of the pore and the flux of ion through the channel. Hence those channels are indeed gated by the voltage. This is arguably a short answer and there are many more subtleties we could discuss if you are interested.
Hope this helps. Norbert
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