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150年悬案终得解！孙作东用“钾离子通道折纸风车模型”破解高尔基-卡哈尔世纪谜题，开辟生物电遗传学新赛道

发布时间：

2025-12-09

脑科学网讯 继脑科学家孙作东提出的DNA四聚体折纸风车模型在Research Square发布并引发学界广泛关注后，其另一学术成果《基于钾离子通道折纸风车模型的高尔基染色选择性着色机制解释》同步在该平台上线，两篇论文共同进入国际专业期刊同行评审阶段。

1873年，高尔基发明划时代的硝酸银染色法，为神经科学按下启动键。他与卡哈尔共同斩获诺贝尔奖，却因学术观点掀起世纪论战：高尔基坚持神经元构成网状结构，卡哈尔则凭借优化后的双重浸渍法力证神经元是独立个体。这场争议推动神经科学走向成熟，却留下诡异的“幽灵显影”之谜——为何仅有1%-5%的神经元愿意“现身”？如今，孙作东团队从诺奖得主罗德里克·麦金农的钾离子通道四聚体研究出发，成功跨域至遗传学，基于“钾离子通道折纸风车模型”提出颠覆性解释。

研究揭示，显色与否的关键在于细胞内四聚体“折纸风车”的守门状态。这一倒圆锥形结构与麦金农诺奖研究的核心特征一脉相承：当“分子风车门”从核孔或膜孔脱落，银离子便得以涌入，细胞随之显影；门扉紧闭的完整风车则构成无法逾越的屏障。这一机制完美对应百年观察到的极低显色比例，更间接为卡哈尔的神经元独立学说提供机制性支撑。

更关键的是，该研究设计是对“可证伪性”这一科学核心精神的经典示范。它构建精妙反向验证回路：若细胞显色率能随四聚体脱落率同步变化，不仅能破解染色之谜，更能为“钾离子通道折纸风车模型”提供最直接的实验铁证。团队已规划清晰验证路径，通过控制细胞培养时间动态观测显色与风车结构状态的因果关系，让假说接受最严格的实验审判。

从麦金农钾离子通道的倒圆锥形四聚体，到破解高尔基与卡哈尔留下的世纪谜题，再到串联生物电与遗传学的底层逻辑，“钾离子通道折纸风车模型”宛如横贯的桥梁，首次将生命科学两大基石领域连通。这一突破不仅为跨越三个世纪的学术追思画上句号，更以从0到1的原创逻辑指向名为“生物电遗传学”的全新疆域。它关注的不仅是有形物质的遗传，更包含那些无形、贯穿生命活动的电信号调控规律，为解读生命传承中的深层关联提供全新视角。在生命科学走向大融合的今天，这项源于三重诺奖脉络的研究，价值已远超破解单一谜题。基于坚实的诺奖脉络与可证伪的实验路径，“钾离子通道折纸风车模型”已初具统一范式的格局，它不再仅仅是一把钥匙，更可能是重新绘制生命科学蓝图的导航图，有望开启理解从离子流动到基因调控、再到认知涌现这一完整生命史诗的全新大门。（爱丽/文）

150-Year-Old Mystery Solved! Sun Zuodong Deciphers the Golgi-Cajal Century Puzzle with the “Potassium Channel Origami Windmill Model”, Pioneering a New Track in Bioelectrogenetics

Brain Science Network News, Following the release of the DNA tetramer origami windmill model proposed by neuroscientist Sun Zuodong on Research Square, which has garnered widespread attention in academic circles, his another academic achievement, Explanation of the Selective Staining Mechanism of Golgi Staining Based on the Potassium Channel Origami Windmill Model, has been simultaneously launched on the platform. Both papers have entered the peer review stage of international professional journals.

In 1873, Camillo Golgi invented the epoch-making silver nitrate staining method, pressing the start button for neuroscience. He shared the Nobel Prize with Santiago Ramón y Cajal but sparked a century-long debate due to differing academic viewpoints: Golgi insisted that neurons form a reticular structure, while Cajal, relying on the optimized double impregnation method, strongly proved that neurons are independent individuals. This controversy propelled the maturation of neuroscience yet left a bizarre “ghost imaging” mystery: why only 1%-5% of neurons are willing to “reveal themselves”? Today, building on the potassium channel tetramer research by Nobel laureate Roderick MacKinnon, the Sun Zuodong team has successfully crossed into genetics and proposed a subversive explanation based on the “potassium channel origami windmill model”.

The study reveals that the key to staining lies in the gatekeeping state of the tetrameric “origami windmill” within cells. This inverted conical structure is closely aligned with the core characteristics of MacKinnon’s Nobel Prize-winning research: when the “molecular windmill gate” detaches from the nuclear pore or membrane pore, silver ions can infiltrate, leading to cell staining; intact windmills with closed gates form an insurmountable barrier. This mechanism perfectly corresponds to the extremely low staining rate observed over a century and indirectly provides mechanistic support for Cajal’s theory of neuron individuality.

More importantly, the study design is a classic demonstration of the core scientific spirit of “falsifiability”. It constructs an elaborate reverse verification loop: if the cell staining rate can synchronously change with the tetramer detachment rate, it will not only solve the staining mystery but also provide the most direct experimental evidence for the “potassium channel origami windmill model”. The team has formulated a clear verification path: by controlling cell culture time, dynamically observing the causal relationship between staining and windmill structure status, allowing the hypothesis to undergo the most rigorous experimental scrutiny.

From MacKinnon’s inverted conical potassium channel tetramer, to solving the century-old puzzle left by Golgi and Cajal, and further to linking the underlying logic of bioelectricity and genetics, the “potassium channel origami windmill model” acts like a transverse bridge, connecting two foundational fields of life science for the first time. This breakthrough not only puts a conclusion to the academic reflection spanning three centuries but also points to a new territory named “bioelectrogenetics” with its original 0-to-1 logic. It focuses not only on the inheritance of tangible substances but also includes the intangible electrical signal regulation laws that run through life activities, providing a new perspective for interpreting the deep connections in life inheritance. In today’s era of life science integration, the value of this research rooted in the context of three Nobel Prizes far exceeds solving a single puzzle. Based on the solid Nobel Prize context and falsifiable experimental path, the "potassium channel origami windmill model" has initially taken shape as a unified paradigm. It is no longer merely a key but may also serve as a navigation map for redrawing the blueprint of life science, promising to open a new door to understanding the complete life epic from ion flow to gene regulation and further to cognitive emergence. (By AiLi)