Despite the importance of the enantioselective transport of amino acids through transmembrane protein nanopores from fundamental and practical perspectives, little has been explored to date. Here, we study the transport of amino acids through α-hemolysin (αHL) protein pores incorporated into a free-standing lipid membrane. By measuring the transport of 13 different amino acids through the αHL pores, we discover that the molecular size of the amino acids and their capability to form hydrogen bonds with the pore surface determine the chiral selectivity. Molecular dynamics simulations corroborate our findings by revealing the enantioselective molecular-level interactions between the amino acid enantiomers and the αHL pore. Our work is the first to present the determinants for chiral selectivity using αHL protein as a molecular filter.
Keywords: amino acids; chiral selectivity; chirality; membrane transport; protein nanopore; α-hemolysin.