Start Date
2023
Description
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. See poster by Dylan Mount regarding electrical properties of lipid bilayers without Ion channels. 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. Since lipid bilayers and ion channels are critical for almost all living cells, studying them can prove beneficial for understanding a myriad of biological processes as well as direct applications in pharmaceutical drug development, and nerve disease treatment. In addition, studying the effects of temperature on these ion channels can provide some insight on the effects of temperature changes on life processes in organisms as well as the fundamental biophysics of these molecules.
Recommended Citation
Haarsma, Loren; Grabill, Sebastian; and Mount, Dylan, "Temperature Dependency of Ion Channel Opennings" (2023). Summer Research. 10.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/summer_research/2023/Posters/10
Included in
Temperature Dependency of Ion Channel Opennings
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. See poster by Dylan Mount regarding electrical properties of lipid bilayers without Ion channels. 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. Since lipid bilayers and ion channels are critical for almost all living cells, studying them can prove beneficial for understanding a myriad of biological processes as well as direct applications in pharmaceutical drug development, and nerve disease treatment. In addition, studying the effects of temperature on these ion channels can provide some insight on the effects of temperature changes on life processes in organisms as well as the fundamental biophysics of these molecules.