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Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Light-driven Molecular Motors on Surfaces for Single Molecular Imaging
Published on: March 13, 2019
Light-Driven Molecular Motors Boost the Selective Transport of Alkali Metal Ions through Phospholipid Bilayers
Wen-Zhi Wang1, Li-Bo Huang2, Shao-Ping Zheng2
1SAMS Research Group, Institut Charles Sadron UPR22, Centre National de la Recherce Scientifique, Université de Strasbourg, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
Abstract:
A hydrophobic light-driven rotary motor is functionalized with two 18-crown-6 macrocycles and incorporated into phospholipid bilayers. In the presence of this molecular construct, fluorescence assays and patch clamp experiments show the formation of selective alkali ion channels through the membrane. Further, they reveal a strongly accelerated ion transport mechanism under light irradiation. This increase of the fractional ion transport activity (up to 400%) is attributed to the out-of-equilibrium actuation dynamics of the light-driven rotary motors, which help to overcome the activation energy necessary to achieve translocation of alkali ions between macrocycles along the artificial channels.
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