Amphotericin B covalent dimers with carbonyl-amino linkage: a new probe for investigating ion channel assemblies

Based on an amphotericin B (AmB) ion-channel model where the close proximity of neighboring molecules is effected by interaction between carboxyl and amino groups, we prepared covalent dimers of AmB connected between these functionalities. While directly connected and short-tethered derivatives (2 and 3) lacked the activities, dimer 4 with a longer linker revealed K+ ion flux activity, suggesting that some distance and/or flexibility between the carboxyl and amino groups in adjacent molecules is required for the formation of ion-permeable complex in biomembranes.