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NANOFLUIDICS

Towards artificial mechanosensing

Nature Materials volume 19, pages 1043–1044 (2020)Cite this article

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Carbon nanotubes with single-digit diameter embedded in a solid artificial membrane show pressure-sensitive ionic conductance that is similar to the mechanically activated currents of biological ion channels.

Ion channels are essential functional components of living cells and organisms, having a pivotal role as multifunctional cellular sensors. In response to chemical and mechanical stimuli, these channels regulate the transport of ions through the cell membrane, thus mediating diverse biological responses such as nerve impulse and hormone secretion. Mechanosensitive ion channels such as piezo1, TREK12 and TRAAK3 respond to mechanical deformations of the membranes they are embedded in, being involved in many fundamental biological processes such as the sensation of touch, hearing and vascular blood flow regulation. Achieving replicas of these sensory systems is one of the goals of nanotechnology as it would allow us to not only mimic such sensory functionalities in artificial systems such as minimal cells4, but also to better understand their roles in living organisms. Now, writing in Nature Materials, Alice Marcotte et al.5 demonstrate an artificial nanofluidics system composed of a single-digit-diameter carbon nanotube that mimics the ion transport response of biological mechanosensitive ion channels.

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Fig. 1: Comparison of the mechanosensitive response of a biological nanochannel and carbon nanotube.

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  1. Laboratory of Nanoscale Biology, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sanjin Marion & Aleksandra Radenovic

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  1. Sanjin Marion
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  2. Aleksandra Radenovic
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Correspondence to Aleksandra Radenovic.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Marion, S., Radenovic, A. Towards artificial mechanosensing. Nat. Mater. 19, 1043–1044 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00811-5

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