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Chirality

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...

Chirality in Nature

Chirality in Nature

Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur

Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

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Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...

Ion Channels

Ion Channels

The movement of ions like sodium, potassium, and calcium into and out of the cell is essential to maintain the electrochemical gradient in living cells. The ion channels—a class of membrane transport proteins—help maintain this ionic gradient for the smooth functioning of physiological activities such as maintaining cell size and volume, conducting nerve impulses, and gas and nutrient exchange.
Ion channels are specialized integral membrane proteins on the plasma membrane that allow...

Location and Orientation of the Heart

Location and Orientation of the Heart

The human heart, despite its modest size and weight, is an organ of remarkable strength and endurance. Roughly the size of a fist, the heart weighs between 250 and 350 grams and is nestled within the mediastinum, the medial cavity of the thorax. It extends obliquely for about 12 to 14 cm, resting on the superior surface of the diaphragm. The heart is positioned anterior to the vertebral column and posterior to the sternum, with two-thirds of its mass lying to the left of the midsternal line.

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Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Reconstitution of a Transmembrane Protein, the Voltage-gated Ion Channel, KvAP, into Giant Unilamellar Vesicles for Microscopy and Patch Clamp Studies

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Published on: January 22, 2015

Oriented chiral water wires in artificial transmembrane channels.

Istvan Kocsis¹, Mirco Sorci², Heather Vanselous³

¹Institut Europeen des Membranes, Adaptive Supramolecular Nanosystems Group, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugene Bataillon CC047, Montpellier F-34095, France.

Science Advances

|March 28, 2018

Summary

Artificial water channels with chiral imidazole I-quartets create organized, dipolar water wires. This structure enhances water transport, crucial for understanding natural aquaporins and developing new water desalination technologies.

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Area of Science:

Supramolecular Chemistry
Membrane Biophysics
Materials Science

Background:

Aquaporins (AQPs) facilitate selective water transport across cell membranes.
The dipolar orientation of water molecules within AQP pores is key to their selectivity.
Artificial water channels offer a platform to study water transport mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of chirality in organizing water molecules within artificial channels.
To demonstrate the formation of dipolar oriented water wires in chiral imidazole I-quartet channels.
To correlate water structure with transport properties in artificial membrane systems.

Main Methods:

X-ray single-crystal structure analysis to determine water wire organization.
Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) to monitor channel integration into lipid bilayers.
Nonlinear sum-frequency generation (NSFG) vibrational spectroscopy to observe water structure.
Molecular simulations to quantify hydrogen bonding and stability.

Main Results:

Chiral imidazole I-quartets form water channels with dipolar oriented water wires.
This ordered water structure was observed both in solid-state crystals and within supported lipid bilayers (SLBs).
Experimental and simulation data confirmed the stability and dipolar alignment of water molecules.

Conclusions:

The study demonstrates a unique dipolar water wire structure within chiral I-quartet channels.
This finding highlights the importance of water organization for transport in artificial channels.
The results provide insights into natural aquaporin function and advance the development of artificial water desalination systems.