Width of lipid bilayer

Value 4.1 nm Range: ±0.2 nm
Organism Spinach Spinacia oleracea
Reference Seelert H, Poetsch A, Dencher NA, Engel A, Stahlberg H, Müller DJ. Structural biology. Proton-powered turbine of a plant motor. Nature. 2000 May 25 405(6785):418-9 p.419 middle column top paragraphPubMed ID10839529
Method P.418 right column bottom paragraph: "[Investigators] have imaged the ATP synthase from leaf chloroplasts by using atomic force microscopy and, surprisingly, find that its turbine has 14 subunits, arranged in a cylindrical ring." Atomic force microscopy:A nanoscale technique that utilizes a cantilever positioned on top of a biological specimen that lies on a piezoelectric surface. A laser beam is directed to and from the cantilever as it is moved against the specimen producing a topographic false image.
Comments p.419 left column bottom paragraph: "[Investigators] conclude that the adjacent wide and narrow rings represent the two channel entrances of IIIx oligomers, with opposite orientations perpendicular to the membrane surface (Fig. 2). The individual subunits of the 7.4-nm-diameter orifice protrude by 1.7±0.3 nm from the bilayer surface, whereas those of the 5.9-nm-diameter orifice protrude by 1.5±0.3 nm the oligomer, which is 7.3±0.3 nm long, traverses the lipid bilayer (thickness, 4.1±0.2 nm)." For additional membrane widths see BNID 100015,104911,104912,103948
Entered by Ron Milo - Admin
ID 101276