Figure 1.

Principle of dendrimer detection using an α-HL nanopore inserted into a lipid membrane. A transmembrane potential difference was applied as shown, with dendrimer on the trans side of the membrane, to generate the electrophoretic driving force ($\overrightarrow{F_{elp}}$) for dendrimer capture and transport across the nanopore. The sketched interplay of electrophoretic ($\overrightarrow{F_{elp}}$) and electro-osmotic forces ($\overrightarrow{F_{elo}}$) acting on the PAMAM-G1 dendrimer in acidic (pH = 3; panel a) and neutral pH (pH = 7; panel b) electrolytic solutions are represented. In panel (c) we represented the PAMAM-G1 chemical structure, displaying the eight surface primary amino groups (in green) and six tertiary amino groups (in purple and red), as well as their corresponding pK_a values⁴⁷.