Ion channel activity of transmembrane segment 6 of Escherichia coli proton-dependent manganese transporter.

Synthetic peptides corresponding to the sixth transmembrane segment (TMS6) of secondary-active transporter MntH (Proton-dependent Manganese Transporter) from Escherichia coli and its two mutations in the functionally important conserved histidine residue were used as a model for structure-function study of MntH. The secondary structure of the peptides was estimated in different environments using circular dichroism spectroscopy. These peptides interacted with and adopted helical conformations in lipid membranes.