1. DNA-Tile Structures Induce Ionic Currents through Lipid Membranes.
- Author
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Kerstin Göpfrich, Thomas Zettl, Anna E. C. Meijering, Silvia Hernández-Ainsa, Samet Kocabey, Tim Liedl, and Ulrich F. Keyser
- Subjects
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BILAYER lipid membranes , *NANOSTRUCTURED materials synthesis , *DNA structure , *MOLECULAR self-assembly , *MOLECULAR weights , *ELECTRIC currents - Abstract
Self-assembled DNA nanostructureshave been used to create man-made transmembrane channels in lipidbilayers. Here, we present a DNA-tile structure with a nominal subnanometerchannel and cholesterol-tags for membrane anchoring. With an outerdiameter of 5 nm and a molecular weight of 45 kDa, the dimensionsof our synthetic nanostructure are comparable to biological ion channels.Because of its simple design, the structure self-assembles withina minute, making its creation scalable for applications in biology.Ionic current recordings demonstrate that the tile structures enableion conduction through lipid bilayers and show gating and voltage-switchingbehavior. By demonstrating the design of DNA-based membrane channelswith openings much smaller than that of the archetypical six-helixbundle, our work showcases their versatility inspired by the richdiversity of natural membrane components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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