Science Daily April 26, 2018
Aquaporins are proteins that serve as water channels to regulate the flow of water across biological cell membranes; they remove excess salt and impurities in the body. An international team of researchers (France, USA- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Cornell University) synthesized and studied the dynamics of a ring structure of the imidazole, a nitrogen-based organic compound, embedded in a supported lipid bilayer. They have shown that water exists in the imidazole water channel and the imidazole ring construct induces the water molecules to self-assemble into a highly oriented linear chain structure — dubbed “water wires.” The discovery could lead potentially to artificial aquaporin membranes for desalination systems… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Details of a water wire (central channel) embedded in a self-assembled immidazole channel (blue) in a lipid-bilayer. Credit: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute