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Encyclopedia of Biophysics pp 1–11Cite as

Reconstitution of Ion Channels from Intracellular Membranes and Bacteria Not Amenable to Conventional Electrophysiological Techniques

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Definition

Reconstitution should be defined as the process of re-introduction of a purified membrane protein into an artificial phospholipid membrane. However, in practice this term is applied to the transfer of either a purified protein or a vesicle of native membrane, containing ion channels, into an artificial membrane system that permits the characterization of channel function.

Introduction

Why Reconstitute?

Over the last 50 years classical macroscopic and single channel electrophysiological approaches have facilitated enormous progress in our understanding of the identity and function of ion channels (Hille 2001). The vast majority of channels studied using these approaches are present in the surface membranes of cells; however, ion channels are also present in a number of intracellular membrane systems and organelles (Szewczyk and Just 2010). Some of these can be investigated using conventional electrophysiological approaches following the isolation and manipulation of nuclei...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Cardiology, Institute of Life Sciences, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK

    Alan Williams

  2. School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    N. Lowri Thomas

Authors
  1. Alan Williams
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  2. N. Lowri Thomas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan Williams .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Leicester MRC Centre, Leicester, UK

    Gordon Roberts

  2. Dept Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anthony Watts

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© 2019 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA)

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Williams, A., Thomas, N.L. (2019). Reconstitution of Ion Channels from Intracellular Membranes and Bacteria Not Amenable to Conventional Electrophysiological Techniques. In: Roberts, G., Watts, A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Biophysics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_372-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35943-9_372-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35943-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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