Permeation and transport articles within Nature Chemistry

Featured

  • Perspective |

    Droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) are a type of artificial bilayer that can act as cell membrane mimics. This Perspective surveys how DIBs can be used to mimic key cellular features (such as bilayer asymmetry) and processes (such as drug movement), and discusses challenges that need to be overcome to enable DIBs to reach their full potential as biomimetic model membranes.

    • Elanna B. Stephenson
    • , Jaime L. Korner
    •  & Katherine S. Elvira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytoskeletons are essential components of cells that perform a variety of tasks, and artificial cytoskeletons that perform these functions are required for the bottom-up assembly of synthetic cells. Now, a multi-functional cytoskeleton mimic has been engineered from DNA, consisting of confined DNA filaments that are capable of reversible self-assembly and transport of gold nanoparticles and vesicular cargo.

    • Pengfei Zhan
    • , Kevin Jahnke
    •  & Kerstin Göpfrich

  • Article |

    That K+ channels conduct K+ ions at near-diffusion limited rates, but block the passage of smaller Na+ ions, creates an apparent contradiction. Now, atomistic simulations and free-energy calculations are used to show that both K+ permeation and ion selectivity are governed by the direct knock-on of completely desolvated ions in the channels’ selectivity filter.

    • Wojciech Kopec
    • , David A. Köpfer
    •  & Ulrich Zachariae

  • Article |

    Efficient conduction of protons on a micrometre scale is critical for the development of fuel cell membranes — a key component of clean energy sources. Now, self-assembling amphiphilic polymers have been shown to provide a nanoscale organization of proton-conducting functionalities that dramatically increases anhydrous proton conductivity.

    • Yangbin Chen
    • , Michael Thorn
    •  & S. Thayumanavan

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