Transient potential gradients and impedance measures of tethered bilayer lipid membranes: pore-forming peptide insertion and the effect of electroporation.

ABSTRACT: In this work, we present experimental data, supported by a quantitative model, on the generation and effect of potential gradients across a tethered bilayer lipid membrane (tBLM) with, to the best of our knowledge, novel architecture. A challenge to generating potential gradients across tBLMs arises from the tethering coordination chemistry requiring an inert metal such as gold, resulting in any externally applied voltage source being capacitively coupled to the tBLM. This in turn causes any potential across the tBLM assembly to decay to zero in milliseconds to seconds, depending on the level of membrane conductance. Transient voltages applied to tBLMs by pulsed or ramped direct-current amperometry can, however, provide current-voltage (I/V) data that may be used to measure the voltage dep

SUBMITTER: Cranfield CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3907230 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature