Mechanisms of Lipid-Mediated Regulation of the Pore-Forming Activity of Antimicrobial Agents: Studies on Planar Lipid Bilayers

Abstract

Planar lipid bilayers are unique tools designed for modeling cell membranes and electrophysiological studies of ion channels embedded in them. Such model systems were invented to intentionally limit the complexity and multicomponent nature of cell membranes in order to analyze in detail the processes occurring there under well-controlled experimental conditions. Planar lipid bilayers make it possible to record single conduction events with a measured current of the order of a tenth of a picoampere. The relative simplicity of the method, the possibility of observing single molecular events and the high reproducibility of the results determine the unprecedented effectiveness of using planar lipid bilayers to identify key physical and chemical factors responsible for the regulation of the functioning of ion channels. This review is a collection of published data on the mechanisms of regulation of ion channels associated with the lipid microenvironment formed by various antimicrobial agents. The analysis allows us to consider lipids as molecular chaperones that ensure the formation of pores in targeted membranes by antimicrobial agents.