Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25355362›Full record

ArticleNature2014

Stochastic transport through carbon nanotubes in lipid bilayers and live cell membranes.

Jia Geng, Kyunghoon Kim, Jianfei Zhang, Artur Escalada, Ramya Tunuguntla, Luis R Comolli, Frances I Allen, Anna V Shnyrova, Kang Rae Cho, Dayannara Munoz and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
85citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

85 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. The Ion Permeability of DNA Nanotube Channels.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Electrokinetic Motion of Neurotransmitter Ions through a 1.01 nm Diameter Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube.The journal of physical chemistry. C, Nanomaterials and interfaces · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Jia Geng1] Biology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA [2] School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95340, USA [3] The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Kyunghoon Kim1] Biology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA [2] The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] Mechanical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Jianfei ZhangSchool of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95340, USA.
Artur EscaladaBiophysics Unit (CSIC, UPV/EHU) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain.
Ramya Tunuguntla1] Biology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA [2] The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Luis R ComolliLife Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Frances I Allen1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Anna V ShnyrovaBiophysics Unit (CSIC, UPV/EHU) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain.
Kang Rae ChoBiology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
Dayannara MunozBiology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
Y Morris WangMaterials Science Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
Costas P GrigoropoulosMechanical Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Caroline M Ajo-Franklin1] The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [2] Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA [3] Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Vadim A Frolov1] Biophysics Unit (CSIC, UPV/EHU) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of the Basque Country, 48940 Leioa, Spain [2] Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain.
Aleksandr Noy1] Biology and Biotechnology Division, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA [2] School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, California 95340, USA [3] The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There is much interest in developing synthetic analogues of biological membrane channels with high efficiency and exquisite selectivity for transporting ions and molecules. Bottom-up and top-down methods can produce nanopores of a size comparable to that of endogenous protein channels, but replicating their affinity and transport properties remains challenging. In principle, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) should be an ideal membrane channel platform: they exhibit excellent transport properties and their narrow hydrophobic inner pores mimic structural motifs typical of biological channels. Moreover, simulations predict that CNTs with a length comparable to the thickness of a lipid bilayer membrane can self-insert into the membrane. Functionalized CNTs have indeed been found to penetrate lipid membranes and cell walls, and short tubes have been forced into membranes to create sensors, yet membrane transport applications of short CNTs remain underexplored. Here we show that short CNTs spontaneously insert into lipid bilayers and live cell membranes to form channels that exhibit a unitary conductance of 70-100 picosiemens under physiological conditions. Despite their structural simplicity, these 'CNT porins' transport water, protons, small ions and DNA, stochastically switch between metastable conductance substates, and display characteristic macromolecule-induced ionic current blockades. We also show that local channel and membrane charges can control the conductance and ion selectivity of the CNT porins, thereby establishing these nanopores as a promising biomimetic platform for developing cell interfaces, studying transport in biological channels, and creating stochastic sensors.

Indexed as

Nanotubes, CarbonStochastic ProcessesAnimalsBiological TransportCell MembraneCell SurvivalCHO CellsCricetulusDNAHEK293 CellsHumansIon ChannelsLipid BilayersLiposomesPorinsDNAIon ChannelsLipid BilayersLiposomesNanotubes, CarbonPorins

Identifiers

PMID25355362

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.