Nanopores articles from across Nature Portfolio

Nanofluidic devices with a large entrance asymmetry can function as memristive switches—operating on the second timescale and with a conductance ratio of up to sixty—and can be assembled into basic logic circuits.

Nanopore label-free sequencing of DNA and RNA at the single-molecule level offers rapid readout, high accuracy, low cost and portability. This Review surveys technologies underpinning commercial and academic nanopore sequencing, and examines how underlying biochemical advances can fuel future developments in nanopore-based protein sequencing.

Transmembrane channels have inspired the development of biomimetic channels. Here, the authors present a class of artificial nanochannels based on DNAzyme-functionalized glass nanopipettes to allow for the control of channel permeability.

Natural herbs, which contain pharmacologically active compounds, have been historically used as medicines but the analysis of their chemical components is time-consuming and complex. Here, the authors report a phenylboronic acid appended Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA) nanopore for sensing a variety of bioactive compounds based on salvianolic acid, without the need for sample separation or purification.

Fruits contain a large variety of cis-diols but their rapid and direct analysis without complex sample pretreatment was not achieved. Here, the authors report a Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A nanopore modified with a phenylboronic acid adapter for recognition of 1,2-diphenols, alditols, α-hydroxy acids and saccharides in fruits.

A copper(II)-functionalized Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A nanopore enables direct identification of all 20 proteinogenic amino acids, one unnatural amino acid and two post-translational modifications, and shows potential for peptide discrimination and sequencing.

Developments in nanopore-based peptide detection and sequencing show promise of a breakthrough.

A DNA origami nanoturbine is designed as a rotary motor that draws power from an ion gradient or electrical potential across a solid-state nanopore. Single-molecule experiments demonstrate that the turbine can drive a DNA bundle into sustained unidirectional rotation, with the preferred rotation direction set by the chirality of the turbine.

Nanopore sequencing combined with DNA-barcoded probes enables multiplexed detection of diverse biomarkers in blood serum.

By using fixed charges to engineer a strong electroosmotic flow, we achieve the unidirectional transport of natural polypeptides across nanopores. Our approach enables native proteins to be transported enzymatically and non-enzymatically in the absence of denaturant and electrophoretic tags, with potential applications for protein sequencing.

A modified nanopore enables enzyme-free threading of single polypeptides to detect post-translational modifications