Single channel recordings of alpha-hemolysin reconstituted in S-layer-supported lipid bilayers. |
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Authors: | Bernhard Schuster Uwe B Sleytr |
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Affiliation: | Center for Ultrastructure Research and Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for Molecular Nanotechnology, Universit?t für Bodenkultur Wien, Gregor Mendel Strasse 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria. bschuste@edv1.boku.ac.at |
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Abstract: | Previous studies demonstrated that lipid membranes attached to a proteinaceous crystalline surface-layer (S-layer) revealed a prolonged lifetime and showed a reduced tendency to rupture in the presence of membrane active molecules. In addition, comparative studies on folded and S-layer-supported lipid membranes (SsLM) revealed an uniform capacitance of 0.64 +/- 0.04 microF/cm(2) for both composite membranes. In the present study, the feasibility to reconstitute the channel-forming protein alpha-hemolysin (alpha HL) into SsLM at single channel resolution was investigated. Single alpha HL channels could be recorded and the intrinsic properties like unitary conductance, current-voltage characteristics, and closure was found to be similar at both membranes. Thus, the tightly attached S-layer allowed complete reconstitution of alpha HL channels in SsLM. |
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