Independent permissive gates in an ion channel ($P_{\mathrm{open}}=p^q$)

A permissive gate allows conduction when it is open. Suppose an ion channel conducts only when all $q$ gates are open, where $q$ is a positive integer. If the gate-open events are mutually independent events and each has the same open probability $p$ at the time considered, thenThis follows from the multiplication rule for independent events. Identical transition rates alone do not guarantee independence: the initial gate states must also be independently prepared, and the model must not couple their transitions. Gates sharing a fluctuating membrane potential can be correlated; the simple product requires an appropriate independence assumption, for example independent gates at an externally fixed voltage.

At $p=0.5$, channels requiring $q=1,2,4$ permissive gates have open probabilities $0.5$, $0.25$ and $0.0625$. For four independent gates there are $2^4=16$ possible open/closed configurations, equally probable at $p=0.5$; only the all-open configuration conducts. Thus $0.5$ is the gate-open probability, while $0.0625$ is the whole-channel open probability. Neither is a fractional state of one observed channel. Among $160$ independently prepared identical four-gate channels, the expected value of the open count is $160/16=10$, although an actual count fluctuates.

For unequal independent gate-open probabilities $p_j$, use $P_{\mathrm{open}}={\prod }_j{p}_j$ rather than $p^q$. This is the distinction behind the Hodgkin-Huxley model's $m^{3}h$: $m$ and $h$ are different activation and inactivation-availability variables, rather than one common $p$. Its $n^4$ uses four identical activation factors. Independence and the all-open requirement are model assumptions; correlated gates or alternative conducting configurations require a different calculation. The simple product is useful because a modest gate-open probability can produce sharply suppressed whole-channel availability without any additional gate interaction.