Channels formed by amphotericin B covalent dimers exhibit rectification

Minako Hirano, Yuko Takeuchi, Nobuaki Matsumori, Michio Murata, Toru Ide

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Amphotericin B (AmB) is a widely used antifungal antibiotic with high specificity for fungi. We previously synthesized several covalently conjugated AmB dimers to clarify the AmB channel structure. Among these dimers, that with an aminoalkyl linker was found to exhibit potent hemolytic activity. We continue this work by investigating the channel activity of the dimer, finding that all channels comprised of AmB dimers show rectification. The direction of the dimer channel in the membrane depended on the electric potential at which the dimer channel was formed. On the other hand, only about half the monomer channels showed rectification. In addition, these channels were easily switched from a rectified to a nonrectified state following voltage stimulation, indicating instability. We propose a model to describe the AmB channel structure that explains why AmB dimer channels necessarily show rectification.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)159-164
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Membrane Biology
Volume240
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2011
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biophysics
  • Physiology
  • Cell Biology

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