Structure of planar membrane formed from liposomes.
Lipid vesicles with incorporated ion channels from polyene antibiotic amphotericin B were used to investigate structures of planar membranes formed by Shindler's techniques. A planar membrane assembled on the aperture in a lavsan film from two layers generated at the air-aqueous liposome suspension interface is not a simple bilayer but a bimolecular membrane containing numerous partly fused liposomes. A complete fusion of liposomal membranes with the planar bilayer is an unlikely event during membrane formation. A planar bimolecular lipid membrane without incorporated liposomes can be made by a method consisting of three stages: formation of a lipid layer on the air-water interface of a suspension containing liposomes, transfer of this layer along the surface of the solution into a chamber containing a solution without liposomes where a lipid monomolecular layer forms gradually (within about 20 min) at the air-water interface, assembling of the planar bilayer membrane from this monolayer. The knowledge of the planar membrane structure may be useful in experiments on incorporation of membrane proteins into a planar lipid bilayer.
D000666:Amphotericin B; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008081:Liposomes; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D019789:Tetraethylammonium; D013757:Tetraethylammonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology
D007473:Ion Channels; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008081:Liposomes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D013757:Tetraethylammonium Compounds; D019789:Tetraethylammonium; D000666:Amphotericin B