Molecular sieving in periodic free-energy landscapes created by patterned nanofilter arrays.
We present an experimental study of Ogston-like sieving process of rodlike DNA in patterned periodic nanofluidic filter arrays. The electrophoretic motion of DNA through the array is described as a biased Brownian motion overcoming periodically modulated free-energy landscape. A kinetic model, constructed based on the equilibrium partitioning theory and the Kramers theory, explains the field-dependent mobility well. We further show experimental evidence of the crossover from Ogston-like sieving to entropic trapping, depending on the ratio between nanofilter constriction size and DNA size.
Fu
Jianping
J
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Yoo
Juhwan
J
Han
Jongyoon
J
D003198:Computer Simulation; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000379:methods*; D004735:Energy Transfer; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000379:methods*
D004247:DNA