A portable lipid bilayer system for environmental sensing with a transmembrane protein.

Kawano, Ryuji; Tsuji, Yutaro; Kamiya, Koki; Kodama, Taiga; Osaki, Toshihisa; Miki, Norihisa; Takeuchi, Shoji · PLoS One · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

This paper describes a portable measurement system for current signals of an ion channel that is composed of a planar lipid bilayer. A stable and reproducible lipid bilayer is formed in outdoor environments by using a droplet contact method with a micropipette. Using this system, we demonstrated that the single-channel recording of a transmembrane protein (alpha-hemolysin) was achieved in the field at a high-altitude (∼3623 m). This system would be broadly applicable for obtaining environmental measurements using membrane proteins as a highly sensitive sensor.

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