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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution
Published on: August 16, 2016
Transmembrane nanopores from porphyrin supramolecules
Akiharu Satake1, Mika Yamamura, Masafumi Oda
1Graduate School of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Takayama 8916-5, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192, Japan. satake@ms.naist.jp
Abstract:
A porphyrin-based nanopore was constructed through a bilayer lipid membrane (BLM). The macrocyclic porphyrin (the inner diameter = ca. 2.1 nm) having six carboxylic acid groups directed up and down was synthesized by self-assembly of three trisporphyrins, metathesis linking, and subsequent hydrolysis. The porphyrin was incorporated into soybean lecithin based BLM, and the ion currents through the nanopore were observed under 500 mM KCl, LiCl, CaCl2, and tetraalkylammonium chloride solutions, indicating formation of a large pore through BLM. Blocking of the ion current was achieved by addition of the polycationic fourth-generation PAMAM dendrimer.
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