Abstract
The driving force in energy-transducing membranes is now recognized to be linked to a flux of protons between membrane-bound donors and acceptors. The question of whether the proton pathway is delocalized within the two bulk aqueous phases on each side of the membrane (delocalized chemiosmotic theory1), or is localized at its surface (semi-localized hypothesis2) still remains open to discussion3,4. Using an original fluorescence monolayer technique, we have recently been able to provide direct experimental evidence that a phospholipid–water interface can act as an efficient proton conductor5,6. This observation strongly supports the semi-localized hypothesis2. In the present study, comparisons between surface potential and fluorescence measurements in monolayers provide additional evidence of a facilitated proton conduction along phospholipid–water interfaces. They suggest the existence of an induced steep surface pH gradient from a more acidic surface towards the bulk. They also show that lateral proton transfer along the surface of a biological membrane would alter the surface potential of that membrane.
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Prats, M., Teissié, J. & Tocanne, JF. Lateral proton conduction at lipid–water interfaces and its implications for the chemiosmotic-coupling hypothesis. Nature 322, 756–758 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/322756a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/322756a0
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