Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 10, 2025

Membrane Transport Processes Analyzed by a Highly Parallel Nanopore Chip System at Single Protein Resolution
Published on: August 16, 2016
Nonadditive Transport in Multi-Channel Single-Molecule Circuits
Li-Chuan Chen1, Jueting Zheng2, Junyang Liu2
1State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (SKLAOC), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, P. R. China.
Abstract:
As stated in the classic Kirchhoff's circuit laws, the total conductance of two parallel channels in an electronic circuit is the sum of the individual conductance. However, in molecular circuits, the quantum interference (QI) between the individual channels may lead to apparent invalidity of Kirchhoff's laws. Such an effect can be very significant in single-molecule circuits consisting of partially overlapped multiple transport channels. Herein, an investigation on how the molecular circuit conductance correlates to the individual channels is conducted in the presence of QI. It is found that the conductance of multi-channel circuit consisting of both constructive and destructive QI is significantly smaller than the addition of individual ones due to the interference between channels. In contrast, the circuit consisting of destructive QI channels exhibits an additive transport. These investigations provide a new cognition of transport mechanism and manipulation of transport in multi-channel molecular circuits.
Related Concept Videos
Facilitated Transport
Facilitated Transport
Drug Absorption Mechanism: Carrier-Mediated Membrane Transport
Facilitated diffusion is a passive process that utilizes human Solute Carrier (SLC) transporters. These transporters bind to the drug, undergo structural...
Secondary Active Transport
Membrane Transporters
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
Facilitated Diffusion
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...

