Recent Advances and Emerging Trends in Nanopore-Based Single-Molecule Sensing of Proteins

Proteins, as fundamental components of all living cells and organisms, are crucial in the formation and regulation of human tissues. However, the complex composition, rapid translocation, and charge heterogeneity of proteins pose significant challenges to achieving single-molecule detection with high precision. Nanopore-based technology possesses extensive application potential in protein detection by virtue of its benefits of high throughput, exceptional sensitivity, label-free operation, and low cost. Herein, the principles, classification (biological, solid-state, and hybrid nanopores), and recent advances in nanopore sensing are first systematically reviewed, with a focus on the identification of amino acids (AAs), dynamic monitoring of post-translational modifications (PTMs), characterization of proteins, as well as ultrasensitive detection of disease biomarkers. Furthermore, the contribution of artificial intelligence-assisted signal recognition to improve detection resolution and throughput is explored. Finally, the challenges and future developments of nanopore technology in biomedical engineering are discussed.