Abstract 2355 Production of Preassembled Protein Nanopores and Their Characterization in Unsupported Lipid Bilayers

Self-assembling protein nanopores accomplish spontaneous organization into membrane-spanning channels and demonstrate utility in applications such as drug delivery, biosensing, molecular sieving, and the study of biomolecular interactions. Alpha-Hemolysin (aHL) from Staphylococcus aureus is one such protein whose self-assembly produces a heptameric transmembrane nanopore. This assembly process results in protein product heterogeneity including soluble monomers, membrane-interacting protein aggregates of varied composition, and fully functional membrane-spanning nanopores.