Start Date
2022
Description
Lipid molecules are made up of a head group that is strongly attracted to water and a tail group that is less attracted to it. In water, they selfassemble into bilayers which form the basis of cell membranes. Ion channels are proteins in the lipid bilayer which control the flow of ions in and out of the cell. Alamethicin is a 20 amino-acid peptide produced by fungus. When added to a lipid bilayer they self-assemble into voltage-dependent ion channels which open for brief periods called dwell times, usually on order of a few milliseconds. Because alamethicin is a fairly simple ion channel, it is a good candidate for biophysical studies. Our goal is to measure the electrical current through a single Alamethicin ion channel as it opens and closes and see how its gating behavior is affected by lipid temperature and lipid composition.
Recommended Citation
Owusu-Barfi, Vennisa and Haarsma, Loren, "Investigating Alamethicin Ion Channel Behavior in Lipid Bilayers" (2022). Summer Research. 33.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/summer_research/2022/Posters/33
Included in
Investigating Alamethicin Ion Channel Behavior in Lipid Bilayers
Lipid molecules are made up of a head group that is strongly attracted to water and a tail group that is less attracted to it. In water, they selfassemble into bilayers which form the basis of cell membranes. Ion channels are proteins in the lipid bilayer which control the flow of ions in and out of the cell. Alamethicin is a 20 amino-acid peptide produced by fungus. When added to a lipid bilayer they self-assemble into voltage-dependent ion channels which open for brief periods called dwell times, usually on order of a few milliseconds. Because alamethicin is a fairly simple ion channel, it is a good candidate for biophysical studies. Our goal is to measure the electrical current through a single Alamethicin ion channel as it opens and closes and see how its gating behavior is affected by lipid temperature and lipid composition.