NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
A Comparison of Ion Channel Current Blockades Caused by Individual Poly(ethylene glycol) Molecules and Polyoxometalate Nanoclusters
Published
Author(s)
Haiyan Wang, John J. Kasianowicz, Joseph W. Robertson, Dianne L. Poster, Jessica Ettedgui
Abstract
Proteinaceous nanometer-scale pores have been used to detect and physically characterize many different types of molecules at the single molecule limit. The method is based on the ability to measure the transient reduction in the ionic channel conductance caused by molecules partitioning into the pore. The distribution of blockade depth amplitudes and residence times of the molecules in the pore are used to physically and chemically characterize the molecules. We compare here the current blockades caused by flexible, linear polymers of ethylene glycol (PEGs) and structurally well-defined metallic nanoparticles. Surprisingly, the variance in the ionic current blockade values for the metallic nanoparticles is much greater than that for the PEGs. We suggest a possible rationale for this finding.
Wang, H.
, Kasianowicz, J.
, Robertson, J.
, Poster, D.
and Ettedgui, J.
(2019),
A Comparison of Ion Channel Current Blockades Caused by Individual Poly(ethylene glycol) Molecules and Polyoxometalate Nanoclusters, European Physical Journal E, [online], https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2019-11838-3, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=926405
(Accessed October 8, 2025)