Rapid and multiplex preparation of engineered Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA) nanopores for single molecule sensing and sequencing

Acknowledging its unique conical lumen structure, Mycobacterium smegmatis porin A (MspA) was the first type of nanopore that has successfully sequenced DNA. Recent developments of nanopore single molecule chemistry have also suggested MspA to be an optimum single molecule reactor. However, further investigations with this approach require heavy mutagenesis which is labor intensive and requires high end instruments for purifications. We here demonstrate an efficient and economic protocol which performs rapid and multiplex preparation of a variety of MspA mutants. The prepared MspA mutants were demonstrated in operations such as nanopore insertion, sequencing, optical single channel recording (oSCR), nanopore single molecule chemistry and nanopore rectification. The performance is no different from that of pores however prepared by other means. The time of all human operations and the cost for a single batch of preparation have been minimized to 40 min and 0.4$, respectively. This method is extremely useful in the screening of new MspA mutants, which has an urgent requirement in further investigations of new MspA nanoreactors. Its low cost and simplicity also enable efficient preparations of MspA nanopores for both industrial manufacturing and academic research.

Automated summary

This study has developed an efficient and cost-effective protocol for preparing a variety of MspA mutants for nanopore insertion, sequencing, and other operations, reducing the costs and time associated with human operations.