Molecular and channel-forming characteristics of gramicidin K's: a family of naturally occurring acylated gramicidins

Biochemistry. 1992 Aug 18;31(32):7311-9. doi: 10.1021/bi00147a015.

Abstract

The gramicidin K family is a set of naturally occurring acylated linear peptides in which a fatty acid is esterified to the ethanolamine hydroxyl of either gramicidin A or C, and possibly also to gramicidin B (Koeppe, R. E., II, Paczkowski, J. A., & Whaley, W. L. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 2822-2826). These acylated gramicidins form membrane-spanning channels in planar lipid bilayers and therefore constitute a model system with which to study the structural and functional consequences of acylation on membrane proteins. This paper serves to characterize further the channels formed by acylated gramicidins A and C and to demonstrate that these channels are structurally equivalent to the channels formed by the standard gramicidins. We also present additional evidence for the ester linkage in the natural acylated gramicidins A and C and identify the fatty acyl chains.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acylation
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Electric Conductivity
  • Gramicidin / chemistry*
  • Ion Channels / physiology*
  • Kinetics
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / methods
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Models, Biological*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Conformation
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Ion Channels
  • Gramicidin