U. Mirsaidov, J. Comer, V. Dimitrov, A. Aksimentiev, and G. Timp.
Slowing the translocation of double-stranded DNA using a nanopore
smaller than the double helix.
Nanotechnology, 21:395501-10, 2010.
MIRS2010-AA
It is now possible to slow and trap a single molecule of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), by
stretching it using a nanopore, smaller in diameter than the double helix, in a solid-state
membrane. By applying an electric force larger than the threshold for stretching, dsDNA
can be impelled through the pore. Once a current blockade associated with a translocating
molecule is detected, the electric field in the pore is switched in an interval less than the
translocation time to a value below the threshold for stretching. According to molecular
dynamics (MD) simulations, this leaves the dsDNA stretched in the pore constriction with
the base-pairs tilted, while the B-form canonical structure is preserved outside the pore. In
this configuration, the translocation velocity is substantially reduced from 1 bp/10 ns to
1 bp/2 ms in the extreme, potentially facilitating high fidelity reads for sequencing,
precise sorting, and high resolution (force) spectroscopy.
1 bp/2 ms in the extreme, potentially facilitating high fidelity reads for sequencing,
precise sorting, and high resolution (force) spectroscopy.
