Expanding the spectrum of pore-forming toxins that can be used for nanopore sequencing
Nanopore sequencing has emerged as a powerful new method for the analysis of biomolecules such as DNA and peptides. The pore-forming toxin aerolysin (Cao et al. 2019) exhibits very high sensitivity for the detection of some of these molecules. However, homologous pores that differ slightly in size or charge, for example, might be better suited for the detection of specific substrates. The aim of this project is therefore to identify and characterize new aerolysin-like pores which might broaden the spectrum of nanopore sequencing sensitivity. Moreover, the project focusses on discovering the structure of these new potential candidates using cryoEM.
Cao et al. 2019 Single-molecule sensing of peptides and nucleic acids by engineered aerolysin nanopores. Nature Communications DOI : 10.1038/s41467-019-12690-9.
