Role of planar lipid structure in transmembrane charge conduction

Using planar lipid membrane as the model for biological membranes, we have studied the role of lipid medium in the mechanism of transmembrane charge t ransport. Here we present a review of our results which indicate that (a) b oth electrons and ions are charge carriers across these membranes, (b) hydr ophilic pores are formed in the planar lipid membrane providing the require d ionic pathways, (c) membrane I-V characteristics are nonlinear and are mo nitored by the presence of external agents in the bathing solution, tempera ture and frequency of the applied electric field. We show that these observ ations can be explained in the light of semiconducting nature of lipid mole cules, double electrode behaviour of the membrane and the theory of charge conduction in binary, inhomogeneous, disordered systems.