Stochastic sensing on a modular chip containing a single-ion channel.
Engineered protein channels have many potential applications in biosensing at the single-molecule level. A future generation of biosensor could be an array of target-specific ion channels, where each protein pore acts as a sensor element. An important step toward this goal is to create a portable, durable, single-protein channel-integrated chip device. Here we report a versatile, modular chip that contains a single-ion channel for single-molecular biosensing. The core of the device is a long-lived lipid membrane that has been sandwiched between two air-insulated agarose layers which gel in situ. A single-protein pore embedded in the membrane serves as the sensor element. The modular device is highly portable, allowing a single-ion channel to continuously function following detachment of the chip from the instrument and independent transportation of the device. The chip also exhibits high durability, which is evidenced from long-duration continuous observation of single-channel dynamics. Once engineered protein pores are installed, the chip becomes a robust stochastic sensor for real-time targeting such as detection of the second messenger IP3. This pluggable biochip could be incorporated with many applicable devices, such as a microfluidic system, and be made into a microarray for both biomedical detection and membrane protein research.
Shim
Ji Wook
JW
Department of Biological Engineering and Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.
Gu
Li Qun
LQ
D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D007473:Ion Channels