Article abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 4, 765 - 772 (2009)
Published online: 27 September 2009 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2009.259
Subject Category: Nanobiotechnology
Translocation of double-stranded DNA through membrane-adapted phi29 motor protein nanopores
David Wendell1,3, Peng Jing1,3, Jia Geng1, Varuni Subramaniam1,4, Tae Jin Lee1, Carlo Montemagno1 & Peixuan Guo1,2
Abstract
Biological pores have been used to study the transport of DNA and other molecules, but most pores have channels that allow only the movement of small molecules and single-stranded DNA and RNA. The bacteriophage phi29 DNA-packaging motor, which allows double-stranded DNA to enter the virus during maturation and exit during an infection, contains a connector protein with a channel that is between 3.6 and 6 nm wide. Here we show that a modified version of this connector protein, when reconstituted into liposomes and inserted into planar lipid bilayers, allows the translocation of double-stranded DNA. The measured conductance of a single connector channel was 4.8 nS in 1 M KCl. This engineered and membrane-adapted phage connector is expected to have applications in microelectromechanical sensing, microreactors, gene delivery, drug loading and DNA sequencing.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering and College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267, USA
- Vontz Center Rm 1301, 3125 Eden Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0508, USA
- Both authors contributed equally to this work
- Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Correspondence to: Peixuan Guo1,2 e-mail: guop@purdue.edu; guopn@ucmail.uc.edu
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