2010 Volume 86 Issue 9 Pages 920-925
Single channel currents of lysenin were measured using artificial lipid bilayers formed on a glass micropipette tip. The single channel conductance for KCl, NaCl, CaCl2, and Trimethylammonium-Cl were 474 ± 87, 537 ± 66, 210 ± 14, and 274 ± 10 pS, respectively, while the permeability ratio PNa/PCl was 5.8. By adding poly(deoxy adenine) or poly(L-lysine) to one side of the bilayer, channel currents were influenced when membrane voltages were applied to pass the charged molecules through the channel pores. Current inhibition process was concentration-dependent with applied DNA. As the current fluctuations of α-hemolysin channels is often cited as the detector in a molecular sensor, these results suggest that by monitoring channel current changes, the lysenin channel has possibilities to detect interactions between it and certain biomolecules by its current fluctuations.
(Communicated by Fumio OOSAWA, M.J.A.)
