A portable lipid bilayer system for environmental sensing with a transmembrane protein

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 9; no. 7; p. e102427
• Main Authors: Kawano, Ryuji, Tsuji, Yutaro, Kamiya, Koki, Kodama, Taiga, Osaki, Toshihisa, Miki, Norihisa, Takeuchi, Shoji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.07.2014; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aluminum; Analysis; Analytical chemistry; Automation; Biology and Life Sciences; Biosensing Techniques - instrumentation; Biosensing Techniques - methods; Biosensors; CAD; Computer aided design; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Engineering and Technology; Environmental Monitoring - instrumentation; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Experiments; High altitude; High-altitude environments; Ion channels; Lipid Bilayers - metabolism; Lipids; Mechanical engineering; Membrane lipids; Membrane proteins; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Membranes; Physical Sciences; Proteins; Research and Analysis Methods; Science; Transmembrane proteins; Japan
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102427

This paper describes a portable measurement system for current signals of an ion channel that is composed of a planar lipid bilayer. A stable and reproducible lipid bilayer is formed in outdoor environments by using a droplet contact method with a micropipette. Using this system, we demonstrated that the single-channel recording of a transmembrane protein (alpha-hemolysin) was achieved in the field at a high-altitude (∼3623 m). This system would be broadly applicable for obtaining environmental measurements using membrane proteins as a highly sensitive sensor.