Solid-state nanopores are tiny holes in a solid material that can detect and classify molecules like proteins without using labels. They work by measuring changes in electric current as molecules pass through. The size and charge of a molecule affect how much the current changes. To get clear signals, nanopores are usually made in the size of the object that you would want to study.
In our experiment, we will use 25-30 nm nanopores to study spherical molecules called encapsulins. Encapsulins are tiny protein spheres that can carry functional proteins inside them. That’s why studying them using nanopores offers an opportunity to learn something about the functional protein hidden inside.
In this project you will try to dock encapsulin (see panel A of the figure below) on a solid state nanopore using electric field and measure the current blockade (Panel B of the figure below)that it will exhibit as a function of :
Voltage: To find the best voltage that produces a strong signal without forcing the encapsulin through the pore
Salt concentration: To determine how well the system works in conditions similar to the human body, where we will later study how encapsulins release their cargo.
Additionally, we will check how consistent current blockade is for different docking events. Since encapsulins are very symmetrical, we expect little variation, at least for empty ones. Once we fully understand the behavior of empty encapsulins, we will test encapsulins carrying different types of cargo to compare their effects.
(A) Docking of negatively charged encapsulin cage onto a nanopore. (B) Expected behavior of ionic current through the nanopore when encapsulin is docked in the nanopore.
