Observation of Giant Conductance Fluctuations in a Protein.

ABSTRACT: Proteins are insulating molecular solids, yet even those containing easily reduced or oxidized centers can have single-molecule electronic conductances that are too large to account for with conventional transport theories. Here, we report the observation of remarkably high electronic conductance states in an electrochemically-inactive protein, the ~200 kD α_Vβ₃ extracelluar domain of human integrin. Large current pulses (up to nA) were observed for long durations (many ms, corresponding to many pC of charge transfer) at large gap (>5nm) distances in an STM when the protein was bound specifically by a small peptide ligand attached to the electrodes. The effect is greatly reduced when a homologous, weakly-binding protein (α₄β₁) is used as a control

SUBMITTER: Zhang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5851656 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature