Electrical oscillation and fluctuation in phospholipid membranes. Phospholipids can form a channel without protein.
Fluctuations and/or step-wise changes in membrane potential and electrical current were observed in bilayer membranes of dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) in the absence of any channel protein. The DOPC membranes consisted of three types: black lipid membranes, pipette-clamp membranes and lipid membranes transferred to porous filter paper by conventional Langmuir-Blodgett techniques. This finding is significant since phospholipids are the main constituents of biomembranes. Lipid molecules with a cis double bond in their carbon skeleton are suggested to be important in the gating or excitation of biomembranes.
Yoshikawa
K
K
College of General Education, University of Tokushima, Japan.
Fujimoto
T
T
Shimooka
T
T
Terada
H
H
Kumazawa
N
N
Ishii
T
T
D004553:Electric Conductivity; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008954:Models, Biological; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011506:Proteins
D007473:Ion Channels; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011506:Proteins; C017251:1,2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine