Yue Qin,# Xiaoyu Zhang,# Yanling Song, Bowen Zhong, Lu Liu, Dongdong Wang, Yahui Zhang, Wenqi Lu, Xinjia Zhao, Zhiqi Jia, Minmin Li, Lihua Zhang* and Guangyan Qing*

Chemical Science 2023, DOI: 10.1039/d3sc02140h

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/SC/D3SC02140H

  SUMOylation is an important and highly dynamic post-translational modification (PTM) process of protein, its disequilibrium may cause various diseases, such as cancers and neurodegenerative disorders. SUMO proteins must be accurately detected to understand disease states and develop effective drugs. Reliable antibodies against SUMO2/3 are commercially available; however, efficient detectors are yet to be developed for SUMO1, which has only 50% homology with SUMO2 and SUMO3. Here, using phage display technology, we identified two cyclic peptide (CP) sequences that could specifically bind to the terminal dodecapeptide sequence of SUMO1. Then we combined the CPs and polyethylene terephthalate conical nanochannel films to fabricate a nanochannel device highly sensitive towards the SUMO1 terminal peptide and protein; sensitivity was achieved by ensuring marked variations in both transmembrane ionic current and Faraday current. The satisfactory SUMO1–sensing ability of this device makes it a promising tool for the time-point monitoring of SENP1 enzyme-catalyzed de-SUMOylation reaction and cellular imaging. This study not only solves the challenge of SUMO1 precise recognition that could promote SUMO1 proteomics analysis, but also demonstrates the good potential of nanochannel device in monitoring of enzymes and discovery of effective drugs.