?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Mechanism+of+Anesthetic+Action%3A+Oxygen+Pathway+Perturbation+Hypothesis&rft.creator=Hu%2C+Huping&rft.creator=Wu%2C+Maoxin&rft.subject=Biophysics&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.description=The+mechanism+of+anesthesia+is+relevant+to+the+neural+and+biological+aspects+of+cognitive+sciences.+Although+more+than+150+years+have+past+since+the+discovery+of+general+anesthetics%2C+how+they+precisely+work+remains+a+mystery.+We+propose+a+novel+unitary+mechanism+of+general+anesthesia+verifiable+by+experiments.+In+the+proposed+mechanism%2C+general+anesthetics+perturb+oxygen+pathways+in+both+membranes+and+oxygen-utilizing+proteins+such+that+the+availabilities+of+oxygen+to+its+sites+of+utilization+are+reduced+which+in+turn+triggers+cascading+cellular+responses+through+oxygen-sensing+mechanisms+resulting+in+general+anesthesia.+Despite+the+general+assumption+that+cell+membranes+are+readily+permeable+to+oxygen%2C+exiting+publications+indicate+that+these+membranes+are+plausible+oxygen+transport+barriers.+The+present+hypothesis+provides+a+unified+framework+for+explaining+phenomena+associated+with+general+anesthesia+and+experimental+results+on+the+actions+of+general+anesthetics.+If+verified+by+experiments%2C+the+proposed+mechanism+also+has+other+significant+medical+and+biological+implications.&rft.publisher=Elsevier&rft.date=2001&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6011%2F1%2FAnestheticAction.pdf&rft.identifier=++Hu%2C+Huping+and+Wu%2C+Maoxin++(2001)+Mechanism+of+Anesthetic+Action%3A+Oxygen+Pathway+Perturbation+Hypothesis.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6011%2F