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What are Ion Channels? – Video
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Video at a Glance
- An ion channel is a tube-shaped transmembrane protein within the phospholipid membrane.
- A selectivity filter is in the middle of the ion channel, and it filters out certain substances based on a variety of factors such as charge, size, or type.
- For example, some channels have potassium selectivity filters that only allow potassium to leak from the intracellular space to the extracellular space.
- A gated ion channel has a selectivity filter that opens and closes.
- The two types of gated ion channels are voltage-gated ion channels and ligand-gated ion channels.
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