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Colicin K acts by forming voltage-dependent channels in phospholipid bilayer membranes

Nature volume 276, pages 159–163 (1978)Cite this article

Abstract

The bactericidal action of colicins K, E1, Ia, and other functionally related colicins involves disruption of active transport and leakage of ions from the cell. We show that a single colicin K molecule can form a voltage-dependent, relatively nonselective, ion-permeable channel of a few picosiemens conductance in a planar phospholipid bilayer membrane. In a membrane containing many of these channels, the ratio of the number of conducting to nonconducting channels changes e-fold per 3.7 mV. We suggest that the physiological effects of colicin K and functionally related colicins result from their ability to form ion-permeable channels in the bacterial plasma membrane.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139

    Stanley J. Schein

  2. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole

    Stanley J. Schein

  3. Departments of Physiology, Neuroscience, and Biophysics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, 10461

    Bruce L. Kagan & Alan Finkelstein

  4. Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543

    Bruce L. Kagan & Alan Finkelstein

Authors
  1. Stanley J. Schein
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  2. Bruce L. Kagan
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  3. Alan Finkelstein
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Schein, S., Kagan, B. & Finkelstein, A. Colicin K acts by forming voltage-dependent channels in phospholipid bilayer membranes. Nature 276, 159–163 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/276159a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/276159a0

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