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Using planar lipid‐bilayers to study plant ion channels
Author(s) -
White P.J.,
Tester M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1994.tb03018.x
Subject(s) - ion channel , membrane , patch clamp , biophysics , lipid bilayer , chemistry , ion , pipette , electrophysiology , voltage clamp , conductance , ion transporter , membrane potential , analytical chemistry (journal) , biochemistry , chromatography , biology , receptor , organic chemistry , mathematics , combinatorics , neuroscience
Ion channels are found in most plant membranes. They catalyse the rapid passive uniport of particular ions with varying selectivity. Planar lipid‐bilayer (PLB) techniques have been developed to study the electrical activities of single ion channels in well‐defined lipid and aqueous environments. They greatly facilitate both the biophysical and biochemical characterisation of ion channels and complement both conventional impaling electrode and membrane‐patch voltage‐clamping (patch‐clamping) electrophysiological techniques applied in vivo. Bilayers can be formed across the end of patch‐clamp pipettes or across apertures in specifically designed chambers. Ion channels in native membranes and purified, genetically altered or synthetic ion channels, proteins and peptides can all be studied in PLBs. The main applications of PLBs are (1) to study ion channels in membranes inaccessible to patch‐clamp electrodes, (2) to provide a functional assay system during channel‐protein purification and (3) to investigate the relationship between the molecular structure of ion channels and their conductance properties. In the present article we describe the techniques available for reconstitution and analysis of ion channels in PLBs and discuss how the PLB technique has been, and may be, useful to the study of plant ion channels.