Evidence that the crystalline arrays in the outer membrane of Neurospora mitochondria are composed of the voltage-dependent channel protein.

Antibodies were raised in rabbits against the outer membrane of Neurospora mitochondria. Antibodies were obtained that were specific for this membrane's major polypeptide (Mr 31 000) and its slower-migrating derivatives on SDS-polyacrylamide gels. These antibodies inhibited the insertion into phospholipid bilayers of voltage-dependent ion channels from detergent extracts of the mitochondrial outer membranes. The same antibodies bound preferentially to membranes containing crystalline surface arrays in outer mitochondrial membrane fractions. These results indicate that the 31 kDa polypeptide is a component both of the ion channels and of the membrane arrays, suggesting identity between the functional and structural entities.