{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T02:58:36Z","timestamp":1792465116350,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,1,19]],"date-time":"2017-01-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1484784000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005866","name":"Far Eastern Memorial Hospital","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["FEMH-2015-D-050"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FEMH-2015-D-050"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005866","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Ion flux through membrane channels is passively driven by the electrochemical potential differences across the cell membrane. Nonequilibrium thermodynamics has been successful in explaining transport mechanisms, including the ion transport phenomenon. However, physiologists may not be familiar with biophysical concepts based on the view of entropy production. In this paper, I have reviewed the physical meanings and connections between nonequilibrium thermodynamics and the expressions commonly used in describing ion fluxes in membrane physiology. The fluctuation theorem can be applied to interpret the flux ratio in the small molecular systems. The multi-ion single-file feature of the ion channel facilitates the utilization of the natural tendency of electrochemical driving force to couple specific biophysical processes and biochemical reactions on the membrane.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e19010040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,1,19]],"date-time":"2017-01-19T10:55:40Z","timestamp":1484823340000},"page":"40","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics of Ion Flux through Membrane Channels"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5660-1452","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chi-Pan","family":"Hsieh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Education, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, No. 21, Sec. 2, Nan-Ya S. Rd., Ban-Chiao, Taipei 220, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, No. 21, Sec. 2, Nan-Ya S. Rd., Ban-Chiao, Taipei 220, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,1,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bpc.2016.02.004","article-title":"The mechanism of inward rectification in Kir channels: A novel kinetic model with non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach","volume":"212","author":"Hsieh","year":"2016","journal-title":"Biophys. Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bpc.2015.04.003","article-title":"Driving force-dependent block by internal Ba2+ on the Kir2.1 channel: Mechanistic insight into inward rectification","volume":"202","author":"Hsieh","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biophys. 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