Department of Chemistry, University of Leuven, Leuven 3001, Belgium.
Nat Commun. 2013;4:2415. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3415.
The transport of nucleic acids through membrane pores is a fundamental biological process that occurs in all living organisms. It occurs, for example, during the import of viral DNA into the host cell or during the nuclear pore complex-mediated transport of mRNA in and out the cell nucleus and has implications in nucleic acid drug delivery and gene therapy. Here we describe an engineered DNA transporter that is able to recognize and chaperone a specific DNA molecule across a biological membrane under a fixed transmembrane potential. The transported DNA strand is then released by a simple mechanism based on DNA strand displacement. This nanopore machine might be used to separate or concentrate nucleic acids or to transport genetic information across biological membranes.
核酸通过膜孔的转运是一种基本的生物过程，发生在所有生物体中。例如，在病毒 DNA 进入宿主细胞的过程中，或者在核孔复合物介导的 mRNA 在细胞核内外运输的过程中，都会发生这种转运，这对核酸药物传递和基因治疗都有影响。在这里，我们描述了一种经过工程改造的 DNA 转运体，它能够在固定的跨膜电势下识别和伴侣特定的 DNA 分子穿过生物膜。然后，通过基于 DNA 链置换的简单机制释放转运的 DNA 链。这种纳米孔机器可用于分离或浓缩核酸，或在生物膜中运输遗传信息。
