Lipid bilayer regulation of membrane protein function: gramicidin channels as molecular force probes.

ABSTRACT: Membrane protein function is regulated by the host lipid bilayer composition. This regulation may depend on specific chemical interactions between proteins and individual molecules in the bilayer, as well as on non-specific interactions between proteins and the bilayer behaving as a physical entity with collective physical properties (e.g. thickness, intrinsic monolayer curvature or elastic moduli). Studies in physico-chemical model systems have demonstrated that changes in bilayer physical properties can regulate membrane protein function by altering the energetic cost of the bilayer deformation associated with a protein conformational change. This type of regulation is well characterized, and its mechanistic elucidation is an interdisciplinary field bordering on physics, chemistry and bi

SUBMITTER: Lundbaek JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2842803 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature