Proton long-range migration along protein monolayers and its consequences on membrane coupling
Abstract
It has been shown with lipid layers and more recently with purple membranes that protons have slow surface-to-bulk transfer. This results in long-range proton lateral conduction along membranes. We report here that such lateral transfer can take place along a pure protein film. It is strongly controlled by the packing. Subtle reorganizations of the protein–protein contact can be biological switches between interfacial and delocalized proton pathways between sources and sinks.
Footnotes
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↵ * To whom reprint requests should be addressed. e-mail: justin{at}lptf.biotoul.fr.
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Pierre Joliot, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Paris, France
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Abbreviation: FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate.
- Copyright © 1996, The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
