Fast-ion transport in peptide nanochannels

This review summarizes recent results of the ion transport in narrow peptide nanochannels (PNCs) conducting ions and water molecules at various densities. The molecular structure of the nanochannel is a periodic continuation of the short selectivity pore of a biological potassium channel. The ion conductivity of a PNC can reach ion velocities up to 50 m/s. This phenomena is based on a fine tuned interplay between the three constituents of the PNC: the ions, the water molecules, and the flexible carbonyl groups of the channel’s backbone, which represents a one-dimensional fluctuating lattice potential for ions and water. The unidirectional transport is based on hopping processes of bound ion–water pairs (‘permons’) mediated by the lattice potential.