Regulating the transport of DNA through biofriendly nanochannels in a thin solid membrane.
Channels formed by membrane proteins regulate the transport of water, ions or nutrients that are essential to cells' metabolism. Recent advances in nanotechnology allow us to fabricate solid-state nanopores for transporting and analyzing biomolecules. However, uncontrollable surface properties of a fabricated nanopore cause irregular transport of biomolecules, limiting potential biomimetic applications. Here we show that a nanopore functionalized with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) can potentially regulate the transport of a DNA molecule by changing functional groups of the SAM. We found that an enhanced interaction between DNA and a SAM-coated nanopore can slow down the translocation speed of DNA molecules and increase the DNA capture-rate. Our results demonstrate that the transport of DNA molecules inside nanopores could be modulated by coating a SAM on the pore surface. Our method to control the DNA motion inside a nanopore may find its applications in nanopore-based DNA sequencing devices.
1] IBM T J Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA [2].
Deqiang
D
Wang
1] IBM Research Australia, 204 Lygon Street, 3053 Carlton, VIC, Australia [2].
Stefan
S
Harrer
1] IBM T J Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA [2].
Binquan
B
Luan
IBM T J Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA.
Gustavo
G
Stolovitzky
IBM T J Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA.
Hongbo
H
Peng
IBM T J Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, 10598, USA.
Ali
A
Afzali-Ardakani
D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D058608:Nanopores; D036103:Nanotechnology; D013499:Surface Properties
D007473:Ion Channels; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D004247:DNA