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Membranes
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Membranes and Ion Channels
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Membranes and Ion Channels

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2015)

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Serdar Kuyucak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Interests: study of ion transport across membrane channels using molecular dynamics simulations; modeling of ion channels using crystal and/or simplified structures; structure and function of glutamate transporters; description of protein-ligand interactions using free energy simulations; computational drug design from peptide toxins

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ion channels are transmembrane proteins that allow passive diffusion of selected ions when they open due to a change in the membrane voltage or binding of ligands. Membrane molecules are not just scaffolds for housing the channel proteins, they also play important roles in their structure and function. However, due to the subtlety of the membrane-ion channel interactions, quantifying the role of the membrane molecules and their composition in regulating the function of ion channels has been a difficult issue. Recent developments in experimental and computational methods have enabled further progress in the field, which is the focus of this Special Issue. Both original contributions and reviews on recent progress in membrane-ion channel interactions will be considered in the Special Issue.

Dr. Serdar Kuyucak
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels
  • formation of multimeric ion channels in membranes
  • stability of channel proteins in membranes
  • membrane-voltage sensor interactions
  • effect of lipid composition on channel function

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

572 KiB  
Article
Computational Investigation of the Effect of Lipid Membranes on Ion Permeation in Gramicidin A
by Jeffry Setiadi and Serdar Kuyucak
Membranes 2016, 6(1), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes6010020 - 18 Mar 2016
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5126
Abstract
Membrane proteins are embedded in a lipid bilayer and interact with the lipid molecules in subtle ways. This can be studied experimentally by examining the effect of different lipid bilayers on the function of membrane proteins. Understanding the causes of the functional effects [...] Read more.
Membrane proteins are embedded in a lipid bilayer and interact with the lipid molecules in subtle ways. This can be studied experimentally by examining the effect of different lipid bilayers on the function of membrane proteins. Understanding the causes of the functional effects of lipids is difficult to dissect experimentally but more amenable to a computational approach. Here we perform molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to study the effect of two lipid types (POPC and NODS) on the conductance of the gramicidin A (gA) channel. A larger energy barrier is found for the K+ potential of mean force in gA embedded in POPC compared to that in NODS, which is consistent with the enhanced experimental conductance of cations in gA embedded in NODS. Further analysis of the contributions to the potential energy of K+ reveals that gA and water molecules in gA make similar contributions in both bilayers but there are significant differences between the two bilayers when the lipid molecules and interfacial waters are considered. It is shown that the stronger dipole moments of the POPC head groups create a thicker layer of interfacial waters with better orientation, which ultimately is responsible for the larger energy barrier in the K+ PMF in POPC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes and Ion Channels)
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1863 KiB  
Article
Cholesterol Promotes Interaction of the Protein CLIC1 with Phospholipid Monolayers at the Air–Water Interface
by Khondker R. Hossain, Heba Al Khamici, Stephen A. Holt and Stella M. Valenzuela
Membranes 2016, 6(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes6010015 - 11 Feb 2016
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6145
Abstract
CLIC1 is a Chloride Intracellular Ion Channel protein that exists either in a soluble state in the cytoplasm or as a membrane bound protein. Members of the CLIC family are largely soluble proteins that possess the intriguing property of spontaneous insertion into phospholipid [...] Read more.
CLIC1 is a Chloride Intracellular Ion Channel protein that exists either in a soluble state in the cytoplasm or as a membrane bound protein. Members of the CLIC family are largely soluble proteins that possess the intriguing property of spontaneous insertion into phospholipid bilayers to form integral membrane ion channels. The regulatory role of cholesterol in the ion-channel activity of CLIC1 in tethered lipid bilayers was previously assessed using impedance spectroscopy. Here we extend this investigation by evaluating the influence of cholesterol on the spontaneous membrane insertion of CLIC1 into Langmuir film monolayers prepared using 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-ethanolamine and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine alone or in combination with cholesterol. The spontaneous membrane insertion of CLIC1 was shown to be dependent on the presence of cholesterol in the membrane. Furthermore, pre-incubation of CLIC1 with cholesterol prior to its addition to the Langmuir film, showed no membrane insertion even in monolayers containing cholesterol, suggesting the formation of a CLIC1-cholesterol pre-complex. Our results therefore suggest that CLIC1 membrane interaction involves CLIC1 binding to cholesterol located in the membrane for its initial docking followed by insertion. Subsequent structural rearrangements of the protein would likely also be required along with oligomerisation to form functional ion channels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes and Ion Channels)
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2313 KiB  
Article
Influence of Global and Local Membrane Curvature on Mechanosensitive Ion Channels: A Finite Element Approach
by Omid Bavi, Charles D. Cox, Manouchehr Vossoughi, Reza Naghdabadi, Yousef Jamali and Boris Martinac
Membranes 2016, 6(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes6010014 - 5 Feb 2016
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 10274
Abstract
Mechanosensitive (MS) channels are ubiquitous molecular force sensors that respond to a number of different mechanical stimuli including tensile, compressive and shear stress. MS channels are also proposed to be molecular curvature sensors gating in response to bending in their local environment. One [...] Read more.
Mechanosensitive (MS) channels are ubiquitous molecular force sensors that respond to a number of different mechanical stimuli including tensile, compressive and shear stress. MS channels are also proposed to be molecular curvature sensors gating in response to bending in their local environment. One of the main mechanisms to functionally study these channels is the patch clamp technique. However, the patch of membrane surveyed using this methodology is far from physiological. Here we use continuum mechanics to probe the question of how curvature, in a standard patch clamp experiment, at different length scales (global and local) affects a model MS channel. Firstly, to increase the accuracy of the Laplace’s equation in tension estimation in a patch membrane and to be able to more precisely describe the transient phenomena happening during patch clamping, we propose a modified Laplace’s equation. Most importantly, we unambiguously show that the global curvature of a patch, which is visible under the microscope during patch clamp experiments, is of negligible energetic consequence for activation of an MS channel in a model membrane. However, the local curvature (RL < 50) and the direction of bending are able to cause considerable changes in the stress distribution through the thickness of the membrane. Not only does local bending, in the order of physiologically relevant curvatures, cause a substantial change in the pressure profile but it also significantly modifies the stress distribution in response to force application. Understanding these stress variations in regions of high local bending is essential for a complete understanding of the effects of curvature on MS channels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes and Ion Channels)
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