Stretching and unzipping nucleic acid hairpins using a synthetic nanopore

被引：55

作者：

Zhao, Q. ^{[1
]}

Comer, J. ^{[1
]}

Dimitrov, V. ^{[1
]}

Yemenicioglu, S. ^{[1
]}

Aksimentiev, A. ^{[1
]}

Timp, G. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Illinois, Beckman Inst, Urbana, IL 61801 USA

来源：

NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH | 2008年 / 36卷 / 05期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1093/nar/gkm1017

中图分类号：

Q5 [生物化学]; Q7 [分子生物学];

学科分类号：

071010 ; 081704 ;

摘要：

We have explored the electromechanical properties of DNA by using an electric field to force single hairpin molecules to translocate through a synthetic pore in a silicon nitride membrane. We observe a threshold voltage for translocation of the hairpin through the pore that depends sensitively on the diameter and the secondary structure of the DNA. The threshold for a diameter 1.5 < d < 2.3nm is V > 1.5V, which corresponds to the force required to stretch the stem of the hairpin, according to molecular dynamics simulations. On the other hand, for 1.0 < d < 1.5 nm, the threshold voltage collapses to V < 0.5 V because the stem unzips with a lower force than required for stretching. The data indicate that a synthetic nanopore can be used like a molecular gate to discriminate between the secondary structures in DNA.

引用

页码：1532 / 1541

页数：10

共 43 条

[1] Microscopic kinetics of DNA translocation through synthetic nanopores [J].