Recognizing a single base in an individual DNA strand: a step toward DNA sequencing in nanopores.

Functional supramolecular chemistry at the single-molecule level. Single strands of DNA can be captured inside α-hemolysin transmembrane pore protein to form single-species α-HL·DNA pseudorotaxanes. This process can be used to identify a single adenine nucleotide at a specific location on a strand of DNA by the characteristic reductions in the α-HL ion conductance. This study suggests that α-HL-mediated single-molecule DNA sequencing might be fundamentally feasible.