Light-Driven Molecular Motors Boost the Selective Transport of Alkali Metal Ions through Phospholipid Bilayers

Wen-Zhi Wang (1) , Li-Bo Huang (2) , Shao-Ping Zheng (2) , Emilie Moulin (1) , Odile Gavat (1) , Mihail Barboiu (2) , Nicolas Giuseppone (1)

1 ICS - Institut Charles Sadron
2 IEM - Institut Européen des membranes

A hydrophobic light-driven rotary motor is functionalized with two 18-crown-6 macrocycles and incorporated into phospholipid bilayers. In the presence of this molecular construct, fluorescence assays and patch clamp experiments show the formation of selective alkali ion channels through the membrane. Further, they reveal a strongly accelerated ion transport mechanism under light irradiation. This increase of the fractional ion transport activity (up to 400%) is attributed to the out-of-equilibrium actuation dynamics of the light-driven rotary motors that helps overcoming the activation energy necessary to achieve translocation of alkali ions between macrocycles along the artificial channels.

Domaines: Chimie de coordination

Wen-Zhi Wang, Li-Bo Huang, Shao-Ping Zheng, Emilie Moulin, Odile Gavat, et al.. Light-Driven Molecular Motors Boost the Selective Transport of Alkali Metal Ions through Phospholipid Bilayers. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2021, 143 (38), pp.15653-15660. ⟨10.1021/jacs.1c05750⟩. ⟨hal-03410237⟩