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Release of Research on Potassium Channels by Sun Zuodong Academic Discussion on Classical Electrophysiological Theory

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2026-04-22

Recently, Researcher Sun Zuodong from the Ya’ou Brain Science Institute of Heilongjiang Province has systematically organized his research findings on potassium channels. The results have been published in full in both Chinese and English academic papers on China Brain Science Network, and are planned to be submitted to relevant international academic journals, putting forward rigorous academic challenges to the core mechanism of the Hodgkin-Huxley action potential model.

The academic views released this time are based on long-term research accumulation. In 2019, Sun Zuodong first proposed the "origami windmill" model of potassium channels; in 2020, he systematically explained cellular bioelectric phenomena based on this model and raised clear doubts about the core inferences of the Hodgkin-Huxley model. After continuous improvement and academic refinement, the relevant theories have formed a relatively complete and self-consistent system. The concentrated release of this research aims to publicly present the original academic views from the preliminary stage and push core scientific issues into experimental verification.

As a Nobel Prize-winning achievement in Physiology or Medicine, the Hodgkin-Huxley model has been regarded as an important fundamental theory of modern electrophysiology since its proposal in 1952. Its core view holds that the repolarization (falling phase) of the action potential is dominated by the outward flow of potassium ions. In his research, Sun Zuodong pointed out that this conclusion is mainly derived indirectly from macroscopic membrane current recordings, and has long lacked direct observational evidence for the net transmembrane direction of potassium ions.

Based on the origami windmill model proposed in 2019, combined with analyses of the tetrameric crystal structure of ion channels, rotational conformation dynamics, and electrostatic repulsion driving forces between ions, it can be rigorously deduced that the net flux direction of potassium ions during action potential repolarization is inward, which is fundamentally contradictory to the outward flow claimed by traditional theories. The two theories are incompatible in physical mechanisms and cannot be reconciled through compromise explanations.

To scientifically determine the rationality of the two theories, the paper proposes a directly implementable crucial experimental protocol: using the giant squid axon as the classic experimental material, and employing ion-selective microelectrodes or radioactive isotope tracing techniques to directly measure the actual transmembrane direction of potassium ions during the falling phase of the action potential.

The article also provides clear judgment criteria from a rigorous academic standpoint: If the experiment confirms outward potassium ion flow, the hypotheses related to the origami windmill model are invalid; If the experiment confirms inward potassium ion flow, the repolarization mechanism of the classical model needs to be re-examined and revised.

The simultaneous release of the academic results in both Chinese and English is not only a systematic presentation of early original academic ideas but also a rational academic initiative to the global electrophysiology community. Sun Zuodong stated that the progress of basic science relies on confronting and testing core issues. He expects relevant laboratories to carry out key experimental research and respond to this important basic scientific question with objective experimental data. (By Ai Li)

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