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Advances in Artificial Cell Membrane Systems as a Platform for Reconstituting Ion Channels
Author(s) -
Komiya Maki,
Kato Miki,
Tadaki Daisuke,
Ma Teng,
Yamamoto Hideaki,
Tero Ryugo,
Tozawa Yuzuru,
Niwano Michio,
HiranoIwata Ayumi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the chemical record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1528-0691
pISSN - 1527-8999
DOI - 10.1002/tcr.201900094
Subject(s) - ion channel , membrane , microfabrication , nanotechnology , transmembrane protein , membrane protein , chemistry , cell membrane , computational biology , biophysics , computer science , materials science , biology , biochemistry , medicine , fabrication , alternative medicine , receptor , pathology
An artificial cell membrane that is composed of bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) with transmembrane proteins incorporated within them represents a well‐defined system for the analysis of membrane proteins, especially ion channel proteins that are major targets for drug design. Because the BLM system has a high compatibility with recently developed cell‐free expression systems, it has attracted attention as a next‐generation drug screening system. However, three issues associated with BLM systems, i. e., their instability, the need for non‐volatile organic solvents and a low efficiency of ion channel incorporation, have limited their use as a drug screening platform. In this personal account, we discuss our recent approaches to address these issues based on microfabrication. We also discuss the potential for using the BLM system combined with cell‐free expression systems as a drug screening system for future personalized medicine.