Solid-State Nanopore Technologies for Nanopore-Based DNA Analysis

Abstract

Nanopore-based DNA analysis is a new single-molecule technique that involves monitoring the flow of ions through a narrow pore, and detecting changes in this flow as DNA molecules also pass through the pore. It has the potential to carry out a range of laboratory and medical DNA analyses, orders of magnitude faster than current methods. Initial experiments used a protein channel for its pre-defined, precise structure, but since then several approaches for the fabrication of solid-state pores have been developed. These aim to match the capabilities of biochannels, while also providing increased durability, control over pore geometry and compatibility with semiconductor and microfluidics fabrication techniques. This review summarizes each solid-state nanopore fabrication technique reported to date, and compares their advantages and disadvantages. Methods and applications for nanopore surface modification are also presented, followed by a discussion of approaches used to measure pore size, geometry and surface properties. The review concludes with an outlook on the future of solid-state nanopores.

Artificial Brownian motors: Controlling transport on the nanoscale

“…Nowadays, synthetic membranes with assigned pore density and patterns are made commercially available. Moreover, by means of increasingly sophisticated growth methods, irradiation ͑Fleischer et nanofabrication techniques ͑Li et al, 2001;Storm et al, 2003;Dekker, 2007;Healy et al, 2007͒, the cross sections of membrane pores can be modulated along their axis. As a result, transport in artificial ion channels fabricated from asymmetric single pores of the most diverse geometries have become accessible to experiments ͑Siwy and Fuliń ski, 2004; Healy et al, 2007͒; see also Sec.…”

Disentangling Steric and Electrostatic Factors in Nanoscale Transport Through Confined Space

“…In nanopore analytics, single molecules are detected via the passage-induced changes in ionic current. [2][3][4][5][6][7] The approach can be implemented with protein 4,[8][9][10] and solid-state nanopores [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and has gained popularity 17 due to its simplicity, the wide range of accessible analytes, 2,13,[18][19][20] and the prospect of DNA sequencing [21][22][23] based on nucleic acid sensing. [24][25][26][27] The translocation of protein and DNA strands through protein channels is also a biologically relevant process in pathogenic bacteria and human cells.…”

Synchronous optical and electrical detection of biomolecules traversing through solid-state nanopores

“…[1][2][3][4] The nanopore method uses the native electrical charge of nucleic acids or polypeptides present in an electrolyte solution to capture and slide the biopolymers through these pores. As this occurs it removes a portion of the solvent molecules present in the pore, giving rise to a time-dependent ionic current signal, which provides information on the biopolymers' dynamics, [5][6][7] length, 8,9 secondary structure, 10,11 and possible interactions with other biomolecules.…”