Protein nanopores such as α-hemolysin and MspA can potentially be used to sequence long strands of DNA quickly and at low cost. In order to provide high-speed sequencing, large arrays of nanopores are required that allow the nanopores to individually addressed, but current nanopore sequencing methods rely on ionic current measurements and such methods are likely to prove difficult to scale up. Here, we show that, by optically encoding the ionic flux through protein nanopores, the discrimination of nucleic acid sequences and the detection of sequence-specific nucleic acid binding events can be parallelized. We make optical recordings at a density of ~104 nanopores per mm2 in a single droplet interface bilayer. Nanopore blockades can discriminate between DNAs with sub-pA equivalent resolution, and specific miRNA sequences can be identified by differences in unzipping kinetics. By creating an array of 2500 bilayers with a micro-patterned hydrogel chip, we are also able to load different samples into specific bilayers, suitable for high-throughput nanopore recording.

Means to sequence DNA and RNA quickly and cheaply have revolutionized biology and medicine. The ability to analyse cellular proteins and their millions of variants would be an advance of comparable importance, but requires a fresh technical approach. We use electroosmosis for the non-enzymatic capture, unfolding and translocation of individual polypeptides of more than 1200 residues by a protein nanopore. By monitoring the ionic current carried by the nanopore, we locate post-translational modifications deep within the polypeptide chains, and thereby lay the groundwork for obtaining inventories of the proteoforms in cells and tissues.

Means to analyse cellular proteins and their millions of variants at the single-molecule level would uncover substantial information previously unknown to biology. Nanopore technology, which underpins long-read DNA and RNA sequencing, holds potential for full-length proteoform identification. We use electro-osmosis in an engineered charge-selective nanopore for the non-enzymatic capture, unfolding and translocation of individual polypeptides of more than 1,200 residues. Unlabelled thioredoxin polyproteins undergo transport through the nanopore, with directional co-translocational unfolding occurring unit by unit from either the C or N terminus. Chaotropic reagents at non-denaturing concentrations accelerate the analysis. By monitoring the ionic current flowing through the nanopore, we locate post-translational modifications deep within the polypeptide chains, laying the groundwork for compiling inventories of the proteoforms in cells and tissues.