title: Nanopore sensing at ultra-low concentrations using single-molecule dielectrophoretic trapping.
abstract: Single-molecule techniques are being developed with the exciting prospect of revolutionizing the healthcare industry by generating vast amounts of genetic and proteomic data. One exceptionally promising route is in the use of nanopore sensors. However, a well-known complexity is that detection and capture is predominantly diffusion limited. This problem is compounded when taking into account the capture volume of a nanopore, typically 10(8)-10(10) times smaller than the sample volume. To rectify this disproportionate ratio, we demonstrate a simple, yet powerful, method based on coupling single-molecule dielectrophoretic trapping to nanopore sensing. We show that DNA can be captured from a controllable, but typically much larger, volume and concentrated at the tip of a metallic nanopore. This enables the detection of single molecules at concentrations as low as 5 fM, which is approximately a 10(3) reduction in the limit of detection compared with existing methods, while still maintaining efficient throughput.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Aleksandar P
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1419-1381
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Avijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barik
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Sang-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Joshua B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Edel
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D058608:Nanopores
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D004247:DNA