The turnover number for band 3-mediated sulfate transport in phosphatidylcholine bilayers.

The anion transport system of the human erythrocyte membrane was reconstituted in unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles, and a vesicle subpopulation of a narrow size distribution was isolated from the sample by gel filtration. In this subpopulation, the turnover number of the transport protein (the band 3 protein) for sulfate transport was determined. It was found that, in the reconstituted system, the protein transports sulfate 5-10 times faster than in the human erythrocyte membrane.

Reconstitution of the erythrocyte anion transport system: recent progress.

The anion transport system of the human erythrocyte membrane was reconstituted in phosphatidylcholine vesicles by a new procedure. The reconstituted system shows all major properties of the sulfate transport system found in the erythrocyte membrane (Scheuring, U., K.