Membrane-Embedded Channel of Bacteriophage Phi29 DNA-Packaging Motor for Translocation and Sensing of Double-Stranded DNA - Nanopores: Sensing and Fundamental Biological Interactions - page 79

Fig. 4.1 (a) The phi29 DNA-packaging motor. (b) Illustration of the entire motor showing DNA
translocation through the connector. (c) Side view of the phi29 connector showing the hydropho-
bic and hydrophilic layers [ 15 , 16 , 40 , 41 ]. (d) Top view of the connector showing the diameter
of the narrow part and wide part of the channel. Figures reproduced with permissions from:
(a) Ref. [ 44 ], American Chemical Society; (b-d) Ref. [ 42 ], Nature Publishing Group

# #

evidence of dsDNA transport [ 34 - 36 ], they have limited sensing applications
due to voltage gating and signal fluctuations. For this reason, some researchers
have switched to fabricating synthetic pores for potential use in dsDNA sequencing
[ 37 - 39 ]. However, generating uniform pore sizes in synthetic nanopores repro-
ducibly within a few nanometers is very challenging and it can also be difficult to
reengineer specific pore modifications or conjugations. As a result, the search for
alternate nanopores is still ongoing.
In this chapter, we will discuss and demonstrate various utilities of the lipid-
embedded channel of phi29 DNA packaging motor. Explicit engineering of the
phi29 connector is possible due to its available crystal structure [ 40 , 41 ].