Carotenoid Bilayer Lipid Membrane Model for the Visual Receptor

INTEREST in black or bilayer membranes (BLM) of about bimolecular thickness separating two aqueous solutions has grown rapidly since the methods for their formation were discovered 1,2 . Their attractiveness as a model system lies in the dimensional, electrical, permeability and “excitability” chara...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1969-12, Vol.224 (5224), p.1107-1108
Main Authors: TIEN, H. T, KOBAMOTO, NAOTADA
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carotenoids
Electric Conductivity
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Light
Membranes, Artificial
Models, Biological
multidisciplinary
Retina
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spectrum Analysis
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Summary:INTEREST in black or bilayer membranes (BLM) of about bimolecular thickness separating two aqueous solutions has grown rapidly since the methods for their formation were discovered 1,2 . Their attractiveness as a model system lies in the dimensional, electrical, permeability and “excitability” characteristics which they possess and which correspond to those of biological membranes. BLM have been used as models for the plasma membrane, for nerve membrane and, more recently, for the mitochondrial membrane 3 ; and in a modified BLM system the active transport of ions seems to have been demon strated 4 . Other interesting findings have been light-induced phenomena in reconstituted chloroplast BLM 5 . We now report a type of black lipid membranes containing carotenoid pigments (“carotenoid BLM”) which exhibit photoelectric responses not unlike those found in vertebrate retina 6 .
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/2241107a0