In summary, we have described a direct and simple method to control the surface charge properties of ion-tracked PET membranes via carbodiimide coupling chemistry. We have demonstrated that the negatively charged membranes allow the selective transport of positively charged molecules and hinder the passage of negatively charged ones. The selectivity of these filters was reversed by changing the surface polarity from negative to positive via amination. We have also described here the construction of a system which demonstrates ATP-modulated molecular transport through synthetic nanochannels. The molecular flux is chemically controlled via ATP in the surrounding environment. In this context, we believe that this platform would be applicable for the discrimination of enantiomers of drug molecules and multi-responsive drug delivery system at the nanoscale level by introducing suitable functionalities on the channel surface.

This book focuses on bioanalytical applications in the multidisciplinary and growing field of nanopore research. Based on the proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Nanopores for Bioanalytical Applications (Lanzarote, 2012), it is suitable for readers in both academia and industry. It describes the latest experimental and fabrication protocols necessary to carry out nanopore-based experiments and covers a wide variety of topics. These include: ion transport; polymers in solution; translocation processes; electrophoresis and mobility; hydrodynamics; cell design; noise as an analytical tool; pore characterization; fabrication methods; DNA and RNA translocation; protein binding; DNA unzipping; sequence analysis, and molecular gating.