Cooperative binding of primycin and gramicidin on erythrocyte membranes. A cation transport study.

In this paper the authors present a comparative study of the actions of the antibiotics primycin and gramicidin on the erythrocyte membrane permeability. It has been found that both antibiotics have a nonlinear effect on the membrane permeability. Above a threshold antibiotic concentration, which is characteristic of the type of the antibiotic, the cation permeability of the erythrocyte membranes increases sharply. In the range of nonlinearity the transport-kinetic curves level off before achieving the equilibrium radioactive ion distribution between the extra- and intracellular spaces. A stochastic model of the cooperative and aspecific incorporation of antibiotic molecules into the membrane explains the experimental findings. The authors conclude that membrane permeability increases at the places where two or more antibiotic molecules form aggregates in the membrane.