Physiological transmembrane transport from thermodynamic and kinetic principles: a unifying theory

<p>Electrical signaling is one of the many functions performed by excitable cells, enabling fast, and in some cases, long-range coordination between different networks of cells. In turn, the electrical properties of cells depend on ionic transport. When ionic transport occurs across the membrane, it is mediated by proteins that either facilitate diffusion, or mechanically translocate ions against the electrochemical gradient that acts upon them. Transmembrane transport has been included in many models of membrane potential. However, the fluxes involved have been expressed in many functional forms not always including the same elements (eg. membrane potential, ionic concentrations of ions across the membrane, temperature, and other factors).