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. 1992 Mar;61(3):827–830. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(92)81888-X

Constant helical pitch of the gramicidin channel in phospholipid bilayers.

J Katsaras 1, R S Prosser 1, R H Stinson 1, J H Davis 1
PMCID: PMC1260301  PMID: 1380320

Abstract

X-ray diffraction has been applied in measuring the helical pitch of the gramicidin channel in oriented bilayers of dilauroylphosphatidylcholine (DLPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) at a polypeptide concentration of 9.1 mol %. The diffraction data show the helical pitch of gramicidin to be 4.7 +/- 0.2 A in both gel and liquid-crystalline phase bilayers, with and without monovalent cations. In addition, the width of the reflection due to the pitch of the helical gramicidin channel is consistent with a five turn helix.

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Selected References

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