Man-made pores mimic important features of natural pores
23 Jul 2012
Inspired by nature, an international research team has created synthetic pores that mimic the activity of cellular ion channels, which play a vital role in human health by severely restricting the types of materials allowed to enter cells.
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| Atomic force microscopy images of artificial ion channels created by scientists. The images are of the same sample, with increasing magnification. Credit: Bing Gong, University at Buffalo |
The pores the scientists built are permeable to potassium ions and water, but not to other ions such as sodium and lithium ions.
This kind of extreme selectivity, while prominent in nature, is unprecedented for a synthetic structure, said University at Buffalo chemistry professor Bing Gong, PhD, who led the study.
The project's success lays the foundation for an array of exciting new technologies. In the future, scientists could use such highly discerning pores to purify water, kill tumours, or otherwise treat disease by regulating the substances inside of cells.
"The idea for this research originated from the biological world, from our hope to mimic biological structures, and we were thrilled by the results," Gong said. "We have created the first quantitatively confirmed synthetic water channel. Few synthetic pores are so highly selective."
The research will appear July 17 in Nature Communications.
