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Cooperative membrane insertion of magainin correlated with its cytolytic activity

1994; Elsevier BV; Volume: 1190; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0005-2736(94)90050-7

1879-2642

Steven J. Ludtke, Ke He, Yili Wu, Huey W. Huang,

Phenothiazines and Benzothiazines Synthesis and Activities

Using oriented circular dichroism, we have found that magainin adopts an α-helical conformation with two distinct orientations when interacting with a lipid bilayer. At low concentrations, magainin is adsorbed parallel to the membrane surface. However, at high concentrations, magainin is inserted into the membrane. This transition occurs at roughly the same critical concentration required for cytolytic activity, implying that the membrane insertion is responsible for magainin's cell-lysing activity.