Cao C Li MY Cirauqui N Wang YQ Dal Peraro M Tian H Long YT 2018 Nanopore sensing is a powerful single-molecule method for DNA and protein sequencing. Recent studies have demonstrated that aerolysin exhibits a high sensitivity for single-molecule detection. However, the lack of the atomic resolution structure of aerolysin pore has hindered the understanding of its sensing capabilities. Herein, we integrate nanopore experimental results and molecular simulations based on a recent pore structural model to precisely map the sensing spots of this toxin for ssDNA translocation. Rationally probing ssDNA length and composition upon pore translocation provides new important insights for molecular determinants of the aerolysin nanopore. Computational and experimental results reveal two critical sensing spots (R220, K238) generating two constriction points along the pore lumen. Taking advantage of the sensing spots, all four nucleobases, cytosine methylation and oxidation of guanine can be clearly identified in a mixture sample. The results provide evidence for the potential of aerolysin as a nanosensor for DNA sequencing. application/pdf https://sonar.ch/global/documents/10399 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41467-018-05108-5 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/30026547 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Nature communications. - 2018 Bacterial Toxins Binding Sites DNA, Single-Stranded Lipid Bilayers Molecular Dynamics Simulation Nanopores Nanotechnology Nucleic Acid Conformation Oligonucleotides Phosphatidylcholines Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins Protein Binding Protein Conformation, beta-Strand Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs Sequence Analysis, DNA Mapping the sensing spots of aerolysin for single oligonucleotides analysis. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501