Electrophysiology of Viral Envelope Protein Ion Channels in Lipid Membranes Across Apertures in Polystyrene and Silicon

Abstract

Viral ion channels, such as the coronavirus envelope proteins (E protein), belong to a family of channels that have attracted a considerable amount of interest during recent years. However, not many studies on the electrophysiology have been performed; mainly due to the fact that these channels are membrane proteins that do not easily express in the outer membrane of bacteria. Moreover, the channel currents are small (on the order of 10-300 pS) when compared with bacterial outer membrane channels.