Park, KyoungwonKuo, YungShvadchak, VolodymyrIngargiola, AntoninoDai, XinghongHsiung, LawrenceKim, WookyeomZhou, HongZou, PengLevine, Alex J.Li, JackWeiss, Shimon2018-02-262018Park, K., Y. Kuo, V. Shvadchak, A. Ingargiola, X. Dai, L. Hsiung, W. Kim, et al. 2018. “Membrane insertion of—and membrane potential sensing by—semiconductor voltage nanosensors: Feasibility demonstration.” Science Advances 4 (1): e1601453. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601453. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1601453.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:34869061We developed membrane voltage nanosensors that are based on inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles. We provide here a feasibility study for their utilization. We use a rationally designed peptide to functionalize the nanosensors, imparting them with the ability to self-insert into a lipid membrane with a desired orientation. Once inserted, these nanosensors could sense membrane potential via the quantum confined Stark effect, with a single-particle sensitivity. With further improvements, these nanosensors could potentially be used for simultaneous recording of action potentials from multiple neurons in a large field of view over a long duration and for recording electrical signals on the nanoscale, such as across one synapse.en-USSciAdv r-articlesPhysical SciencesApplied PhysicsJournal Article2018-02-2610.1126/sciadv.1601453