Bioinspired artificial nanochannels: construction and application

Abstract

Biological channels facilitate the transport of ions and molecules across cell membranes. They can respond to various external stimuli such as light, ions, changes in pH, temperature and so on, playing a crucial role not only in maintaining the homeostasis in the cell, but also in mediating all electrical excitability of the nervous and muscle systems. Moreover, the malfunction of biological channels can result in various diseases. Inspired by the properties of biological channels, in recent years, much effort has been devoted to constructing artificial nanochannels in order to mimic the structures and functions of their biological counterparts. Hopefully, these artificial nanochannels can be applied in various fields. From the perspective of the structural and functional relationship between artificial and biological nanochannels, in this review, we summarized the construction of artificial nanochannels based on different scaffolds and their applications. In addition, we also listed the current challenges and gave an expectation on the development of artificial nanochannels. This review is relevant to readers who are interested in the field of the biomimetic artificial nanochannels.