ß-barrel Channel Proteins as Tools in Nanotechnology

Marco Fioroni, Tamara Dworeck, Francisco Rodriguez-Ropero

"[Beta]-barrel outer membrane channel proteins (OMP) have great potential as robust and flexible models or components in nanotechnology. Over the last decade biotechnological techniques allowed to expand the natural characteristics of OMPs by modifying their geometry and properties without affecting the overall protein structure and stability. The present book is oriented towards a broad group of readers including graduate students and advanced researchers. The [beta]-barrel structure serviceability for the nano-material design will be its chief topic giving a general introduction to the field of OMP based nano-component development as well as the state of the art of the involved research. On the example of the E. coli FhuA the transformation of an OMP into a tailored nano-channel to be adapted to a non-biological synthetic (i.e. polymer) environment, rendering it competitive with...