A finite element solution of an ion channel dielectric continuum model such as Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE) and a system of Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations (PNP) requires tetrahedral meshes for an ion channel protein region, a membrane region, and an ionic solvent region as well as an interface fitted irregular tetrahedral mesh of a simulation box domain. However, generating these meshes is very difficult and highly technical due to the related three regions having very complex geometrical shapes. Currently, an ion channel mesh generation software package developed in Lu's research group is one available in the public domain. To significantly improve its mesh quality and computer performance, in this paper, new numerical schemes for generating membrane and solvent meshes are presented and implemented in Python, resulting in a new ion channel mesh generation software package. Numerical results are then reported to demonstrate the efficiency of the new numerical schemes and the quality of meshes generated by the new package for ion channel proteins with ion channel pores having different geometric complexities.
翻译:Poisson-Boltzmann等离子信道电离连续模型的有限元素溶液,如Poisson-Nernst-Planck等式(PNP)和Poisson-Nernst-Planck等式(PNP)系统等离子信道电离信道电离连续模型的有限元素溶液,要求对离子通道蛋白区域、一个膜区域、一个离子溶剂区域以及一个装有不规则的模拟盒域四面网格的界面进行四面网格处理。然而,由于相关的三个区域具有非常复杂的几何形状,生成这些介质是非常困难和高度技术性的。目前,Lu的研究组开发的离子频道网格生成软件包在公共领域可供使用。为了显著改进其网格质量和计算机性,本文介绍了在Python的生成膜和溶剂meshes的新数字方案,并在Python上实施,从而产生了一个新的离子通道网模生成软件包。然后报告了数字结果,以显示新的数字图谱层质新组合生成的金属质的效率。