ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
5 years ago

Developing an Inositol-Phosphate-Actuated Nanochannel System by Mimicking Biological Calcium Ion Channels

Developing an Inositol-Phosphate-Actuated Nanochannel System by Mimicking Biological Calcium Ion Channels
Zhonghui Chen, Shilong Zhao, Guangyan Qing, Qiuhan Tang, Taolei Sun, Qi Lu
In eukaryotic cells, ion channels, which ubiquitously present as polypeptides or proteins, usually regulate the ion transport across biological membranes by conformational switching of the channel proteins in response to the binding of diverse signaling molecules (e.g., inositol phosphate, abbreviated to InsP). To mimic the gating behaviors of natural Ca2+ channels manipulated by InsPs, a smart poly[(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-4-(3-acryloylthioureido) benzoic acid)0.2] (denoted as PNI-co-ATBA0.2) was integrated onto a porous anodic alumina (PAA) membrane, building an InsP-actuated nanochannel system. Driven by the intensive hydrogen bonding complexation of ATBA monomer with InsP, the copolymer chains displayed a remarkable and reversible conformational transition from a contracted state to a swollen one, accompanied with significant changes in surface morphology, wettability, and viscoelasticity. Benefiting from these features, dynamic gating behaviors of the nanochannels located on the copolymer-modified PAA membrane could be precisely manipulated by InsPs, reflected as a satisfactory linear relationship between real-time variation in transmembrane ionic current and the InsP concentration over a wide range from 1 nmol L–1 to 10 μmol L–1, as well as a clear discrimination among InsP2, InsP3, and InsP6. This study indicates the great potential of biomolecule-responsive polymers in the fabrication of biomimetic ion nanochannels and other nanoscale biodevices.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b09992

DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b09992

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.