title: Fluorescent gramicidin derivatives for single-molecule fluorescence and ion channel measurements.
abstract: Single-molecule spectroscopies in combination with single-channel patch-clamp measurements have the potential for providing new information on ion channel gating processes. Fluorescent gramicidin derivatives could provide a means for calibrating such experiments since the structure of the open channel is known and the mechanism of gating (peptide dimerization) is generally agreed. We describe here the synthesis and characterization of two pairs of gramicidin derivatives that should prove useful for such studies. They contain robust fluorophores, undergo resonance energy transfer (FRET) when they dimerize, and have single-channel properties close to those of the wild-type channel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, 80 St. George Street, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lougheed
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Borisenko
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Woolley
mesh_terms: D019281:Dimerization; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D006096:Gramicidin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007473:Ion Channels; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D010455:Peptides; D006096:Gramicidin