title: Electrophysiological Measurements on Solid Supported Membranes.
abstract: The solid supported membrane (SSM) represents a convenient model system for a biological membrane with the advantage of being mechanically so stable that solutions can be rapidly exchanged at the surface. The SSM consists of a hybrid alkanethiol-phospholipid bilayer supported by a gold electrode. Proteoliposomes, membrane vesicles, or membrane fragments containing the transport protein of interest are adsorbed on the SSM surface and are subjected to a rapid substrate concentration jump. The substrate concentration jump activates the protein and the charge displacement concomitant with its transport activity is recorded as a current transient. Since this technique is well suited for the functional characterization of electrogenic membrane transporters, it is expected to become a promising platform technology for drug screening and development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy. francesco.tadini@unifi.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tadini-Buoninsegni
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartolommei
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D004566:Electrodes; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010743:Phospholipids; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D006046:Gold
keywords: Charge displacement; Concentration jump; Current transient; Gold sensor; Membrane transport protein; Solid-supported membrane; Solution exchange