Ion channel proteins are of fundamental importance in numerous biological processes and constitute a key target in pharmaceutical research. However, many aspects of their mechanism of action still remain poorly understood. In order to shed light on these complex membrane transport systems, we have developed a family of peptide nanostructures that create channels for ions by aligning crown ethers on top of each other when adopting an a-helical conformation.  We will present different analogs of such artificial ion channels and how they were used to study ion translocation processes in membranes. Also, we will report on the engineering of their ion-selectivity and their incorporation into new biodetection systems.

Use of peptide nanostructures to construct functional artificial ion channels

248th National Meeting (2014)

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