Pf3 coat protein forms voltage-gated ion channels in planar lipid bilayers

The coat protein of bacteriophage Pf3 forms discrete and stable ion channels of uniform size in planar bilayers of asolectin. Its primary sequence suggests a channel formed by a bundle of transmembrane helices. Since the apparent transmembrane region only consists of strongly hydrophobic residues, it represents a new class of channel-forming proteins. The channel activity is strongly voltage-dependent. The single-channel conductance of 60 pS (at 100 mV) in 0.2 M NaCl is slightly voltage-dependent, indicating conformational changes of the pore upon variation of the transmembrane electric field. The channel is unselective which suggests that the pore is of aqueous character. For the observed conductance, a channel diameter of 3.6 A is consistent with a tetrameric alpha-helix bundle, as calculated from a barrel-stave model. A pronounced dependence of the gating kinetics with increasing voltage arises from two opposing effects: an increase in the number of open channel structures, and a simultaneous, more than 3-fold decrease in the channel lifetime. Thus, a maximum activity is reached around 100 mV, a range which corresponds well with physiological membrane potentials. The channels activate only upon application of a positive voltage on the side of the membrane to which the protein had been added. The slow relaxation of the mean current upon application of sudden voltage jumps indicates a strong activation barrier in the channel gating process, which may result from the membrane translocation of the charged residues of the peptide ends. A channel-mediated import mechanism is suggested for the bacterial infection by phage DNA.