Single-chain heteropolymers transport protons selectively and rapidly
Open accessAbstract
Precise protein sequencing and folding are believed to generate the structure and chemical diversity of natural channels 1,2, both of which are essential to synthetically achieve proton transport performance comparable to that seen in natural systems. Geometrically defined channels have been fabricated using peptides, DNAs, carbon nanotubes, sequence-defined polymers and organic frameworks 3-13. However, none of these channels rivals the performance observed in their natural counterparts. Here we show that without forming an atomically structured channel, four-monomer-based random heteropolymers (RHPs)14 can mimic membrane proteins and exhibit selective proton transport across lipid bilayers at a rate similar to those of natural proton channels. Statistical control over the monomer distribution in an RHP leads to segmental heterogeneity in hydrophobicity, which facilitates the insertion of single RHPs into the lipid bilayers. It also results in bilayer-spanning segments containing polar monomers that promote the formation of hydrogen-bonded chains 15,16 for proton transport. Our study demonstrates the importance of the adaptability that is enabled by statistical similarity among RHP chains and of the modularity provided by the chemical diversity of monomers, to achieve uniform behaviour in heterogeneous systems. Our results also validate statistical randomness as an unexplored approach to realize protein-like behaviour at the single-polymer-chain level in a predictable manner.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Ideal random copolymerization of the six functional monomers has minimal composition drift during polymerization and enables statistically controlled sequences.
“Therefore, we aimed to statistically replicate the sequence features of functional classes through ideal random copolymerization of the six functional monomers, which has minimal composition drift during polymerization and enables statistically controlled sequences19,27–29.”
From Data-driven de novo design of super-adhesive hydrogels (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
The main text (page not provided) describes statistically random sequences and statistical control over monomer distribution. But its RHP uses four monomers, not six, and the passage on sequence generation accounts for compositional drift rather than establishing that drift during polymerization is minimal. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
VMD: visual molecular dynamics
Humphrey, W., Dalke, A., & Schulten, K. (1996) · Journal of Molecular Graphics · doi:10.1016/0263-7855(96)00018-5 · Cited by 66,952 · see citing works
Maximum Likelihood from Incomplete Data Via the <i>EM</i> Algorithm
Dempster, A. P., Laird, N. M., & Rubin, D. B. (1977) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Statistical Methodology · doi:10.1111/j.2517-6161.1977.tb01600.x · Cited by 50,444 · see citing works
Particle mesh Ewald: An N⋅log(N) method for Ewald sums in large systems
Darden, T., York, D., & Pedersen, L. (1993) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/1.464397 · Cited by 29,588 · see citing works
A tutorial on hidden Markov models and selected applications in speech recognition
Rabiner, L. R. (1989) · Proceedings of the IEEE · doi:10.1109/5.18626 · Cited by 22,743 · see citing works
A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein
Kyte, J., & Doolittle, R. F. (1982) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0 · Cited by 22,694 · see citing works
A smooth particle mesh Ewald method
Essmann, U., Perera, L., Berkowitz, M., Darden, T., Lee, H.-C., & Pedersen, L. (1995) · The Journal of Chemical Physics · doi:10.1063/1.470117 · Cited by 21,329 · see citing works
Polymorphic transitions in single crystals: A new molecular dynamics method
Parrinello, M., & Rahman, A. (1981) · Journal of Applied Physics · doi:10.1063/1.328693 · Cited by 19,668 · see citing works
GROMACS 4: Algorithms for Highly Efficient, Load-Balanced, and Scalable Molecular Simulation
Hess, B., Kutzner, C., van der Spoel, D., & Lindahl, E. R. (2008) · Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation · doi:10.1021/ct700301q · Cited by 15,830 · see citing works
All-Atom Empirical Potential for Molecular Modeling and Dynamics Studies of Proteins
MacKerell, A. D., Bashford, D., Bellott, M., Dunbrack, R. L., Evanseck, J. D., Field, M. J., Fischer, S., Gao, J., Guo, H., Ha, S., et al. (1998) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/jp973084f · Cited by 14,270 · see citing works
P ACKMOL : A package for building initial configurations for molecular dynamics simulations
Martı́nez, L., Andrade, R., Birgin, E. G., & Martínez, J. M. (2009) · Journal of Computational Chemistry · doi:10.1002/jcc.21224 · Cited by 9,856 · see citing works
Settle: An analytical version of the SHAKE and RATTLE algorithm for rigid water models
Miyamoto, S., & Kollman, P. A. (1992) · Journal of Computational Chemistry · doi:10.1002/jcc.540130805 · Cited by 7,268 · see citing works
CHARMM36m: An Improved Force Field for Folded and Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Huang, J., Rauscher, S., Nawrocki, G., Ran, T., Feig, M., de Groot, B. L., Grubmüller, H., & MacKerell, A. (2016) · Nature Methods · doi:10.1038/nmeth.4067 · Cited by 6,708 · see citing works
Forney, G. D. (1973) · Proceedings of the IEEE · doi:10.1109/proc.1973.9030 · Cited by 5,713 · see citing works
Update of the CHARMM all-atom additive force field for lipids: Validation on six lipid types
Klauda, J. B., Venable, R., Freites, J. A., O'Connor, J. W., Tobias, D., Mondragon-Ramirez, C., Vorobyov, I., MacKerell, A. D., & Pastor, R. (2010) · Journal of Physical Chemistry B · doi:10.1021/jp101759q · Cited by 4,369 · see citing works
Lee, J.-M., Cheng, X., Swails, J. M., Yeom, M. S., Eastman, P., Lemkul, J. A., Wei, S., Buckner, J., Jeong, J. C., Qi, Y., et al. (2015) · Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation · doi:10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00935 · Cited by 4,238 · see citing works
Colorimetric determination of phospholipids with ammonium ferrothiocyanate
Stewart, J. C. M. (1980) · Analytical Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/0003-2697(80)90269-9 · Cited by 1,786 · see citing works
Aligned Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Membranes
Hinds, B. J., Chopra, N., Rantell, T. D., Andrews, R. J., Gavalas, V. G., & Bachas, L. G. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1092048 · Cited by 1,343 · see citing works
Structure and mechanism of the M2 proton channel of influenza A virus
Schnell, J. R., & Chou, J. J. (2008) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature06531 · Cited by 1,069 · see citing works
Artificial transmembrane ion channels from self-assembling peptide nanotubes
Ghadiri, M., Granja, J. R., & Buehler, L. K. (1994) · Nature · doi:10.1038/369301a0 · Cited by 972 · see citing works
Structure of Fully Hydrated Fluid Phase Lipid Bilayers with Monounsaturated Chains
Kučerka, N., Tristram‐Nagle, S., & Nagle, J. F. (2006) · The Journal of Membrane Biology · doi:10.1007/s00232-005-7006-8 · Cited by 803 · see citing works
Synthetic Lipid Membrane Channels Formed by Designed DNA Nanostructures
Langecker, M., Arnaut, V., Martin, T. G., List, J., Renner, S., Mayer, M., Dietz, H., & Simmel, F. C. (2012) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1225624 · Cited by 761 · see citing works
Voltage-Gated Proton Channels and Other Proton Transfer Pathways
DeCoursey, T. E. (2003) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00028.2002 · Cited by 730 · see citing works
Self-assembly of amphiphilic dendritic dipeptides into helical pores
Percec, V., Dulcey, A. E., Balagurusamy, V. S. K., Miura, Y., Šmidrkal, J., Peterca, M., Nummelin, S., Edlund, U., Hudson, S. D., Heiney, P. A., et al. (2004) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature02770 · Cited by 649 · see citing works
Structural basis for the function and inhibition of an influenza virus proton channel
Stouffer, A. L., Acharya, R., Salom, D., Levine, A. S., Costanzo, L. D., Soto, C. S., Tereshko, V. A., Nanda, V., Stayrook, S. E., & DeGrado, W. F. (2008) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature06528 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
Reconstitution of functional water channels in liposomes containing purified red cell CHIP28 protein
Zeidel, M. L., Ambudkar, S. V., Smith, B. L., & Agre, P. C. (1992) · Biochemistry · doi:10.1021/bi00148a002 · Cited by 591 · see citing works
Molecular mechanisms for proton transport in membranes.
Nagle, J. F., & Morowitz, H. J. (1978) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.75.1.298 · Cited by 576 · see citing works
Amphipols: Polymers that keep membrane proteins soluble in aqueous solutions
Tribet, C., Audebert, R., & Popot, J. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.26.15047 · Cited by 477 · see citing works
Mimicry of Antimicrobial Host-Defense Peptides by Random Copolymers
Mowery, B. P., Lee, S. E., Kissounko, D. A., Epand, R. F., Epand, R. M., Weisblum, B., Stahl, S. S., & Gellman, S. H. (2007) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/ja077288d · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Stochastic transport through carbon nanotubes in lipid bilayers and live cell membranes
Geng, J., Kim, K., Zhang, J., Escalada, A., Tunuguntla, R. H., Comolli, L. R., Allen, F. I., Shnyrova, A. V., Cho, K. R., Munoz, D., et al. (2014) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature13817 · Cited by 434 · see citing works
Selective Artificial Transmembrane Channels for Protons by Formation of Water Wires
Si, W., Chen, L., Hu, X., Tang, G., Chen, Z., Hou, J., & Li, Z. (2011) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201106857 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
De novo design of a transmembrane Zn 2+ -transporting four-helix bundle
Joh, N. H., Wang, T., Bhate, M., Acharya, R., Wu, Y., Grabe, M., Hong, M., Grigoryan, G., & DeGrado, W. F. (2014) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1261172 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Random heteropolymers preserve protein function in foreign environments
Panganiban, B., Qiao, B., Jiang, T., DelRe, C., Obadia, M. M., Nguyen, T. D., Smith, A. A. A., Hall, A., Sit, I., Crosby, M. G., et al. (2018) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aao0335 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Self-citationUltrafast proton transport in sub-1-nm diameter carbon nanotube porins
Tunuguntla, R. H., Allen, F. I., Kim, K., Belliveau, A., & Noy, A. (2016) · Nature Nanotechnology · doi:10.1038/nnano.2016.43 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Synthetic Ion Channel Based on Metal–Organic Polyhedra
Jung, M., Kim, H., Baek, K., & Kim, K. (2008) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.200802240 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Highly permeable artificial water channels that can self-assemble into two-dimensional arrays
Shen, Y., Si, W., Erbakan, M., Decker, K., Zorzi, R. D., Saboe, P. O., Kang, Y. J., Majd, S., Butler, P. J., Walz, T., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1508575112 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
The suite of small-angle neutron scattering instruments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Heller, W. T., Cuneo, M. J., DeBeer‐Schmitt, L., Do, C., He, L., Heroux, L., Littrell, K. C., Pingali, S. V., Qian, S., Stanley, C. B., et al. (2018) · Journal of Applied Crystallography · doi:10.1107/s1600576718001231 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Self-citationRigid Rod-Shaped Polyols: Functional Nonpeptide Models for Transmembrane Proton Channels
Weiss, L. A., Sakai, N., Ghebremariam, B. T., Ni, C., & Matile, S. (1997) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/ja973126d · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Lin, T.-I., & Schroeder, C. (2001) · Journal of Virology · doi:10.1128/jvi.75.8.3647-3656.2001 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Deuterium Isotope Effects on Permeation and Gating of Proton Channels in Rat Alveolar Epithelium
DeCoursey, T. E., & Cherny, V. V. (1997) · The Journal of General Physiology · doi:10.1085/jgp.109.4.415 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Subnanometer Porous Thin Films by the Co-assembly of Nanotube Subunits and Block Copolymers
Xu, T., Zhao, N., Ren, F., Hourani, R., Lee, M., Shu, J. Y., Mao, S. S., & Helms, B. A. (2011) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn103083t · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationSynthetic Lipid Membrane Channels formed by Designed DNA Nanostructures
Langecker, M., Arnaut, V., Martin, T. G., List, J., Renner, S., Mayer, M., Dietz, H., & Simmel, F. C. (2013) · Biophysical Journal · doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2012.11.3022 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Manneville, J., Casella, J.-F., Ambroggio, E. E., Gounon, P., Bertherat, J., Bassereau, P. M., Cartaud, J., Antonny, B., & Goud, B. (2008) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0807102105 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Simulation of biomimetic recognition between polymers and surfaces
Golumbfskie, A. J., Pande, V. S., & Chakraborty, A. K. (1999) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.96.21.11707 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Posing for a picture: vesicle immobilization in agarose gel
Lira, R. B., Steinkühler, J., Knorr, R. L., Dimova, R., & Riske, K. A. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep25254 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Practical Prediction of Heteropolymer Composition and Drift
Autzen, A. A. A., Hall, A., Wu, V. C., & Xu, T. (2018) · ACS Macro Letters · doi:10.1021/acsmacrolett.8b00813 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citationElectronic control of H+ current in a bioprotonic device with Gramicidin A and Alamethicin
Hemmatian, Z., Keene, S. T., Josberger, E. E., Miyake, T., Arboleda, C., Soto‐Rodríguez, J., Baneyx, F., & Rolandi, M. (2016) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms12981 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Self-citationKrishnamoorthy, G. (1986) · Biochemistry · doi:10.1021/bi00369a051 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Vial, F., Oukhaled, A., Auvray, L., & Tribet, C. (2006) · Soft Matter · doi:10.1039/b613003h · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Near-complete depolymerization of polyesters with nano-dispersed enzymes
DelRe, C., Jiang, Y., Kang, P., Kwon, J., Hall, A., Jayapurna, I., Ruan, Z., Ma, L., Zolkin, K., Li, T. Y., et al. (2021) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03408-3 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Self-citationData-driven de novo design of super-adhesive hydrogels
Liao, H., Hu, S., Yang, H., Wang, L., Tanaka, S., Takigawa, I., Li, W., Fan, H., & Gong, J. P. (2025) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09269-4 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
“Therefore, we aimed to statistically replicate the sequence features of functional classes through ideal random copolymerization of the six functional monomers, which has minimal composition drift during polymerization and enables statistically controlled sequences 19,27–29 .”
A Light‐Operated Molecular Cable Car for Gated Ion Transport
Wang, C., Wang, S., Yang, H., Xiang, Y., Wang, X., Bao, C., Zhu, L., Tian, H., & Qu, D. (2021) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202102838 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Enhanced Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein to Receptor by Distal Polybasic Cleavage Sites
Qiao, B., & de la Cruz, M. O. (2020) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/acsnano.0c04798 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Self-citationShi, B., Pang, X., Lyu, B., Wu, H., Shen, J., Guan, J., Wang, X., Fan, C., Cao, L., Zhu, T., et al. (2023) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202211004 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Rapid and Scalable Access to Sequence‐Controlled DHDM Multiblock Copolymers by FLP Polymerization
Bai, Y., Wang, H., He, J., & Zhang, Y. (2020) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202004013 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
A Light‐Driven Molecular Machine Controls K + Channel Transport and Induces Cancer Cell Apoptosis
Yang, H., Yi, J., Pang, S., Ye, K., Ye, Z., Duan, Q., Yan, Z., Lian, C., Yang, Y. A., Zhu, L., et al. (2022) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202204605 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Electronic Transport in the Biopigment Sepia Melanin
Reali, M., Gouda, A., Bellemare, J., Ménard, D., Nunzi, J.-M., Soavi, F., & Santato, C. (2020) · ACS Applied Bio Materials · doi:10.1021/acsabm.0c00373 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Yan, T., Liu, S., Li, C., Xu, J., Yu, S., Wang, T., Sun, H., & Liu, J. (2022) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202210214 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Synthetic Macrocycle Nanopore for Potassium-Selective Transmembrane Transport
Qiao, D., Joshi, H., Zhu, H., Wang, F., Xu, Y., Gao, J., Huang, F., Aksimentiev, A., & Feng, J. (2021) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.1c04910 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Population-based heteropolymer design to mimic protein mixtures
Ruan, Z., Li, S., Grigoropoulos, A., Amiri, H., Hilburg, S. L., Chen, H., Jayapurna, I., Jiang, T., Gu, Z., Alexander-Katz, A., et al. (2023) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05675-0 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationTransient water wires mediate selective proton transport in designed channel proteins
Kratochvil, H. T., Watkins, L. C., Mravic, M., Thomaston, J. L., Nicoludis, J. M., Somberg, N. H., Liu, L., Hong, M., Voth, G. A., & DeGrado, W. F. (2023) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41557-023-01210-4 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Transmembrane Ion Channels: From Natural to Artificial Systems
Yan, T., & Liu, J. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202416200 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
A high-throughput platform for efficient exploration of functional polypeptide chemical space
Wu, G., Zhou, H., Zhang, J., Tian, Z., Liu, X., Wang, S., Coley, C. W., & Lu, H. (2023) · Nature Synthesis · doi:10.1038/s44160-023-00294-7 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Behavior of Protein-Inspired Synthetic Random Heteropolymers
Hilburg, S. L., Ruan, Z., Xu, T., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2020) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01886 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Self-citationConfined Microenvironments from Thermoresponsive Dendronized Polymers
Xu, G., Liu, K., Xu, B.-Y., Yao, Y., Li, W., Yan, J., & Zhang, A. (2020) · Macromolecular Rapid Communications · doi:10.1002/marc.202000325 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
A Bioinspired Free‐Standing 2D Crown‐Ether‐Based Polyimine Membrane for Selective Proton Transport
Qian, Y., Wu, Y., Qiu, S., He, X., Liu, Y., Kong, X., Tian, W. J., Jiang, L., & Wen, L. (2023) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202300167 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Covalent Organic Framework Interlayer Spacings as Perfectly Selective Artificial Proton Channels
Li, Q. L., Gao, H., Zhao, Y., Zhou, B., Yu, L., Huang, Q., Jiang, L., & Gao, J. X. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202402094 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Zhong, Q., Cao, Y., Xie, X., Wu, Y., Chen, Z., Zhang, Q., Jia, C., Wu, Z., Xin, P., Yan, X., et al. (2023) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202314666 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Molecular Motor‐Driven Light‐Controlled Logic‐Gated K+ Channel for Cancer Cell Apoptosis
Li, C., Wu, Y., Zhu, Y., Yan, J., Liu, S., Xu, J., Fa, S., Yan, T., Zhu, D., Yan, Y., et al. (2024) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202312352 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Patel, R. A., Colmenares, S., & Webb, M. A. (2023) · ACS Polymers Au · doi:10.1021/acspolymersau.3c00007 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
DNA nanopores as artificial membrane channels for bioprotonics
Luo, L., Manda, S., Park, Y., Demir, B., Sanchez, J., Anantram, M. P., Ören, E. E., Gopinath, A., & Rolandi, M. (2023) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40870-1 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationA Light‐Operated Molecular Cable Car for Gated Ion Transport
Wang, C., Wang, S., Yang, H., Xiang, Y., Wang, X., Bao, C., Zhu, L., Tian, H., & Qu, D. (2021) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202102838 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Jiang, W., Ding, X., Huang, Z., Feng, X.-C., Wang, M., Zhang, X., Ying, S., Wang, H., Gao, J. X., Zhu, Y., et al. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.4c18730 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Wijker, S., & Palmans, A. R. A. (2023) · ChemPlusChem · doi:10.1002/cplu.202300260 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Hakobyan, K., Ishizuka, F., Corrigan, N. A., Xu, J., Zetterlund, P. B., Prescott, S. W., & Boyer, C. A. (2024) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202412407 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Lin, Y., Wu, B., Zeng, Y., Yuan, H., Ji, C., Liu, Z., Sui, Y., Yin, T., Kong, X., Zhu, Y., et al. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202408558 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Polymers for Disrupting Protein–Protein Interactions: Where Are We and Where Should We Be?
Le, S. P., Krishna, J., Gupta, P., Dutta, R., Li, S., Chen, J., & Thayumanavan, S. (2024) · Biomacromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.biomac.4c00850 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Lang, C., Kumar, M., & Hickey, R. J. (2021) · Soft Matter · doi:10.1039/d1sm01368h · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Yoo, S., Qiao, B., Douglas, T., Bu, W., de la Cruz, M. O., & Dutta, P. (2022) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/acsami.1c24008 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Self-citationChen, Z., Xie, X., Jia, C., Zhong, Q., Zhang, Q., Luo, D., Cao, Y., Mu, Y., & Ren, C. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202318811 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Topological Effects of Dendronized Polymers on Their Thermoresponsiveness and Microconfinement
Xu, G., Zhang, J., Jia, R., Li, W., & Zhang, A. (2022) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02066 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Sequence Design of Random Heteropolymers as Protein Mimics
Jayapurna, I., Ruan, Z., Eres, M., Jalagam, P., Jenkins, S., & Xu, T. (2023) · Biomacromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01036 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationBishop, B., Huang, S., Chen, H., Yu, H., Long, H., Shen, J., & Zhang, W. (2024) · Chinese Chemical Letters · doi:10.1016/j.cclet.2024.109966 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
A Light‐Driven Molecular Machine Controls K + Channel Transport and Induces Cancer Cell Apoptosis
Yang, H., Yi, J., Pang, S., Ye, K., Ye, Z., Duan, Q., Yan, Z., Lian, C., Yang, Y. A., Zhu, L., et al. (2022) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202204605 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Forced Unfolding of Protein-Inspired Single-Chain Random Heteropolymers
Han, Z., Hilburg, S. L., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2022) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02411 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Bioelectronic control of chloride ions and concentration with Ag/AgCl contacts
Jia, M., Dechiraju, H., Selberg, J. A., Pansodtee, P., Mathews, J., Wu, C., Levin, M. G., Teodorescu, M., & Rolandi, M. (2020) · APL Materials · doi:10.1063/5.0013867 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationLi, C., Wu, Y., Bao, S., Li, H., Xu, Z., Yan, J., Yu, X., He, L., Zhang, T., Liu, W., et al. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.4c14583 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Exploiting Molecular Dynamics in Composite Coatings to Design Robust Super‐Repellent Surfaces
Guo, R., Goudeli, E., Xu, W., Richardson, J. J., Xu, W., & Pan, S. (2022) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.202104331 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Small-Angle Neutron Scattering for Studying Lipid Bilayer Membranes
Heller, W. T. (2022) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom12111591 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Self-citationZhang, J., Yao, Y., Zhang, Y., Wu, D., Li, W., Whittaker, A. K., & Zhang, A. (2023) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00581 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Wanjari, P., Stroia, I., van der Lee, A., Baaden, M., & Barboiu, M. D. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5c05942 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Yu, H., Liu, L., Yin, R., Jayapurna, I., Wang, R., & Xu, T. (2024) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.3c13909 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationJin, T., Hilburg, S. L., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2022) · Polymer · doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2022.125503 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Pan, X., Xu, D., Tang, X., Liu, N., You, Y., Wang, X., Yan, X., Ma, X., & Chen, X. S. (2020) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.202002761 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
A data-driven sequencer that unveils latent “codons” in synthetic copolymers
Hibi, Y., Uesaka, S., & Naito, M. (2023) · Chemical Science · doi:10.1039/d2sc06974a · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Statistical Copolymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly (stat‐PISA) for Colloidal Hydrogels
Zhu, R., Zheng, Y., Zhang, Q., Yu, C., Zhang, Z., & Huo, M. (2024) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.202313155 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Designing single-polymer-chain nanoparticles to mimic biomolecular hydration frustration
Jin, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2025) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41557-025-01760-9 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Peterca, M., Sahoo, D., Imam, M. R., Xiao, Q., & Percec, V. (2022) · Giant · doi:10.1016/j.giant.2022.100118 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Random heteropolymers as enzyme mimics
Yu, H., Eres, M., Hilburg, S. L., Kang, P., Jin, T., Grigoropoulos, A., Li, Z., Loh, D., Jayapurna, I., Ruan, Z., et al. (2025) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09860-9 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-citationTranscendent Aspects of Proton Channels
DeCoursey, T. E. (2023) · Annual Review of Physiology · doi:10.1146/annurev-physiol-042222-023242 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Rapid and Scalable Access to Sequence‐Controlled DHDM Multiblock Copolymers by FLP Polymerization
Bai, Y., Wang, H., He, J., & Zhang, Y. (2020) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202004013 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Yeo, J., Woo, J., Choi, S., Kwon, K., Lee, J., & Kim, M. (2022) · Polymer Chemistry · doi:10.1039/d2py00542e · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Bilayer-folded lamellar mesophase induced by random polymer sequence
Shin, M., Kim, H., Park, G., Park, J., Ahn, H., Yoon, D. K., Lee, E. J., & Seo, M. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-022-30122-z · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Transmembrane Ion Channels: From Natural to Artificial Systems
Yan, T., & Liu, J. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202416200 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Jeong, K., Jeong, S., Lee, S., & Son, C. Y. (2022) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202204272 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Adsorption of Biomimetic Amphiphilic Heteropolymers onto Graphene and Its Derivatives
Jin, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2023) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02413 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Artificial Lithium Channels Built from Polymers with Intrinsic Microporosity
Gou, F., Wang, Q., Yang, Z., Chang, W., Shen, J., & Zeng, H. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202418304 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Wu, G., Jin, T., Alexander‐Katz, A., & Coley, C. W. (2025) · Matter · doi:10.1016/j.matt.2025.102336 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-Assembly of Repetitive Segment and Random Segment Polymer Architectures
Yu, H., Kalutantirige, F. C., Yao, L., Schroeder, C. M., Chen, Q., & Moore, J. S. (2022) · ACS Macro Letters · doi:10.1021/acsmacrolett.2c00495 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Solvent Remodeling in Single‐Chain Amphiphilic Heteropolymer Systems
Hilburg, S. L., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2022) · Macromolecular Rapid Communications · doi:10.1002/marc.202200142 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Yoo, H., Lee, H., Kang, S., Lee, J., Park, K., Yoo, H., Kim, J., Chung, T. D., Lee, K., Lim, H., et al. (2023) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.202303655 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Sahoo, D., Peterca, M., Imam, M. R., Maurya, D. S., & Percec, V. (2024) · Journal of Materials Chemistry B · doi:10.1039/d4tb01951b · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Automated PET-RAFT Polymerization toward Pharmaceutical Amorphous Solid Dispersion Development
Upadhya, R., Punia, A., Kanagala, M. J., Liu, L., Lamm, M. S., Rhodes, T. A., & Gormley, A. J. (2021) · ACS Applied Polymer Materials · doi:10.1021/acsapm.0c01376 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Biomimetic Artificial Proton Channels
Andrei, I., & Barboiu, M. D. (2022) · Biomolecules · doi:10.3390/biom12101473 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
De novo design of transmembrane nanopores
Qiao, D., Chen, Y., Tan, H., Zhou, R., & Feng, J. (2022) · Science China Chemistry · doi:10.1007/s11426-022-1354-5 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Sequence‐Sensitivity in Functional Synthetic Polymer Properties
Jin, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202415047 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Wijker, S., Dellemme, D., Deng, L., Fehér, B., Voets, I. K., Surin, M., & Palmans, A. R. A. (2025) · ACS Macro Letters · doi:10.1021/acsmacrolett.5c00065 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Wu, G., Jin, T., Zhou, H., Coley, C. W., Alexander‐Katz, A., & Lu, H. (2025) · ACS Central Science · doi:10.1021/acscentsci.5c01382 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Control of pH in bioelectronics and applications
Jia, M., Ray, S., Breault, R., & Rolandi, M. (2020) · APL Materials · doi:10.1063/5.0027464 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationData-Driven Design of Random Heteropolypeptides as Synthetic Polyclonal Antibodies
Zhou, H., Wu, G., Zhang, Z., Zhu, Z., Zhao, T., Zhou, Q., Chen, H., Zhao, Z., Dai, Y., Jing, X., et al. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5c06240 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
High throughput screening for the design of protein binding polymers
Bapp, C., Mustafa, A. Z. A., Cao, C., Wanless, E. J., Stenzel, M. H., & Chapman, R. (2025) · Chemical Science · doi:10.1039/d5sc04391c · Cited by 9 · see citing works
In vivo therapy of osteosarcoma using anion transporters-based supramolecular drugs
Zheng, Z., Wei, X., Lin, Y., Tao, S., Li, H., Ji, Z., Wei, H., Jin, J., Zhao, F., Lang, C., et al. (2024) · Journal of Nanobiotechnology · doi:10.1186/s12951-023-02270-x · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Li, C., Wu, Y., Bao, S., Xu, Z., Yan, J., Li, H., Yu, X., Weng, Z., Xu, J., Wang, T., et al. (2025) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202500986 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationScouarnec, R. L., Ibarboure, E., Alembik, L. L., Lecommandoux, S., Chain, J. L., & Bonduelle, C. V. (2025) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5c06134 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Yan, T., Liu, S., Li, C., Xu, J., Yu, S., Wang, T., Sun, H., & Liu, J. (2022) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202210214 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Gu, Y., Zhang, Z., Gao, T., Gómez‐Bombarelli, R., & Chen, M. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202409744 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ren, L., Liu, S., & Sun, Z. (2023) · Catalysis Science & Technology · doi:10.1039/d3cy01110k · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Prossnitz, A. N., Nguyen, L. T., Eckman, N., Borkar, S., Tetef, S., Autzen, A. A. A., Fuller, G. G., & Appel, E. A. (2025) · Advanced Science · doi:10.1002/advs.202409604 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
KT, S. S., Qiao, B., Marmorstein, J. G., Wang, Y., Favaro, D. C., Stebe, K. J., Petersson, E. J., Radhakrishnan, R., de la Fuente‐Núñez, C., Tu, R. S., et al. (2025) · Chemistry - A European Journal · doi:10.1002/chem.202501318 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationKosaka, S., Fukushima, J., Takeuchi, N., Miyamoto, N., de Campo, L., Kawano, R., & Nishimura, T. (2025) · Chemical Science · doi:10.1039/d5sc04256a · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Zhong, Q., Cao, Y., Xie, X., Wu, Y., Chen, Z., Zhang, Q., Jia, C., Wu, Z., Xin, P., Yan, X., et al. (2023) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202314666 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Four-Component Statistical Copolymers by RAFT Polymerization
Vagenas, D., & Pispas, S. (2024) · Polymers · doi:10.3390/polym16101321 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Gou, F., Yang, Z., Wang, Q., Chang, W., Shen, J., & Zeng, H. (2025) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202516573 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Random Heteropolymers Enable Nonspecific Protein Binding and Loop-Mediated Stabilization
Jin, T., Dagadu, A., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2025) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/acsnano.5c12927 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Covalent Organic Framework Interlayer Spacings as Perfectly Selective Artificial Proton Channels
Li, Q. L., Gao, H., Zhao, Y., Zhou, B., Yu, L., Huang, Q., Jiang, L., & Gao, J. X. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202402094 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Artificial Lithium Channels Built from Polymers with Intrinsic Microporosity
Gou, F., Wang, Q., Yang, Z., Chang, W., Shen, J., & Zeng, H. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202418304 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Gu, Y., Zhang, Z., Gao, T., Gómez‐Bombarelli, R., & Chen, M. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.202409744 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
A Bioinspired Free‐Standing 2D Crown‐Ether‐Based Polyimine Membrane for Selective Proton Transport
Qian, Y., Wu, Y., Qiu, S., He, X., Liu, Y., Kong, X., Tian, W. J., Jiang, L., & Wen, L. (2023) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202300167 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Gou, F., Yang, Z., Wang, Q., Chang, W., Shen, J., & Zeng, H. (2025) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202516573 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Jin, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2026) · Macromolecules · doi:10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01752 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Nanoplastics penetration across the blood–brain barrier
Ianos, A., Zhou, J., Qiao, T., Wei, T., & Qiao, B. (2026) · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · doi:10.1039/d5cp04125b · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationIntegrating Ion Channels with Bioelectronics for Biotic–Abiotic Systems
Park, Y., Luo, L., & Rolandi, M. (2023) · Advanced Intelligent Systems · doi:10.1002/aisy.202200312 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationLin, Y., Wu, B., Zeng, Y., Yuan, H., Ji, C., Liu, Z., Sui, Y., Yin, T., Kong, X., Zhu, Y., et al. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202408558 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Guazzelli, E., Pisano, G., Turriani, M., Biver, T., Kriechbaum, M., Uhlig, F., Galli, G., & Martinelli, E. (2023) · Pharmaceutics · doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics15061703 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Chen, Z., Xie, X., Jia, C., Zhong, Q., Zhang, Q., Luo, D., Cao, Y., Mu, Y., & Ren, C. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202318811 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Photo-regulated supramolecular artificial proton channels induce cancer cell apoptosis
Zhang, T., Lu, Y., Zhu, C., Zhang, Y., Wu, Y., Xing, X., Xu, J., Yu, S., Yan, T., & Liu, J. (2025) · Journal of Materials Chemistry B · doi:10.1039/d5tb01835h · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Computational design of functional random heteropolymers through atomistic simulations
Jin, T., Lung, C. S., Xu, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0343799 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationPolyprolinated Liposomes: Toward Thermoresponsive Shielding and Controlled Release
Scouarnec, R. L., Morvan, E., Grélard, A., Ibarboure, E., Lecommandoux, S., Bonduelle, C. V., & Chain, J. L. (2026) · Langmuir · doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.6c02338 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Sequence‐Sensitivity in Functional Synthetic Polymer Properties
Jin, T., Coley, C. W., & Alexander‐Katz, A. (2024) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.202415047 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jiang, T., Hall, A., Eres, M., Hemmatian, Z., Qiao, B., Zhou, Y., Ruan, Z., Couse, A. D., Heller, W. T., Huang, H., de la Cruz, M. O., Rolandi, M., & Xu, T.
- Affiliations
- Xiamen University (CN)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Northwestern University (US)
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Xu, Ting
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2020-01-08
- Volume
- 577
- Issue
- 7789
- Pages
- 216-220
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2999129979
- Cited by
- 122
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 10
- FWCI
- 4.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.osti.gov
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DRYAD (public-domain)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (DEAC02-05CH11231, W911NF-13)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DE-AC02-05CH11231)
- U.S. Department of Energy (-AC02-05CH11231, DE‐FG02‐, DEFG0208ER46539, 05CH11231, DE AC02 05CH11231, FG02-08ER46539, DE-AC02-)
- U.S. Department of Commerce
- Sherman Fairchild Foundation
- National Institutes of Health (1s10od024998-01, DE-AC02–05CH11231)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (DE-AC02-05CH11231)
- Office of Science (DEAC02–05CH11231, AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC02)
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences (DE-AC02, DE-FG02-08ER46539, DE-AC02-05CH11231., DE-FG02, AC02–05CH11231)
- Army Research Office (DE-AC02-05CH11231, W911NF- 13-1-0232, W911NF-13-1-, W911NF-13, W911NF)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DE-AC0205CH11231)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Advanced Polymer Synthesis and Characterization
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes
- Keywords
- random heteropolymers, proton transport, lipid bilayers, ion selectivity, artificial ion channels, membrane mimetics, hydrogen-bonded chains, statistical randomness
- MeSH terms
- Lipid Bilayers, Lipids, Models, Molecular, Molecular Conformation, Polymers, Protons
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
