Active ion transporters from readily accessible acyclic octapeptides containing 3-aminobenzoic acid and alanine

Ion transporters have been developed from acyclic octapeptides comprising L/D alanine and m-aminobenzoic acid. These octapeptides transport cations up to 3 times faster than their cyclic analog through lipid vesicles. Preliminary CD, XRD and computational studies allude to a 6-9 Å wide tetrameric ion channel as the active ion transporter.