1.D.307. The Rectifying Artificial Biomimetic NanoChannel (RAB-NC) Family
Transmembrane channels play a vital role in regulating membrane permeation, and have inspired recent development of biomimetic channels. Qian et al. 2024 reported a class of artificial biomimetic nanochannels based on DNAzyme-functionalized glass nanopipettes to realize delicate control of channel permeability, whereby the surface wettability and charge can be tuned by metal ions and DNAzyme-substrates, allowing reversible conversion between different permeability states. They demonstrated that the nanochannels can be reversibly switched between four different permeability states, showing distinct permeability to various functional molecules. By embedding the artificial nanochannels into the plasma membrane of single living cells, we achieve selective transport of dye molecules across the cell membrane. The advanced functions include gene silencing in single cancer cells and selective transport of Ca2+ into single PC-12 cells. This provides a versatile tool for the design of rectifying artificial nanochannels with on-demand functions (Qian et al. 2024).