Selective recognition of short oligonucleotides
at the single-molecule
level is particularly important for early disease detection and treatment.
In this work, polydopamine (PDA)-coated nanopores were prepared via
self-polymerization as a solid-state nanopore sensing platform for
the recognition of oligonucleotide C (PolyC). The PDA coating possesses
abundant active sites, such as indole, amino, carboxyl, catechol,
and quinone structures, which had interactions with short oligonucleotides
to slow down the translocation rate. PDA-coated nanopores selectively
interact with PolyC20 by virtue of differences in hydrogen
bonding forces, generating a larger blocking current, while polyA
and polyT demonstrated very small blockings. At the same time, PDA-coated
nanopores can sensitively distinguish PolyC with different lengths,
such as 20, 14, and 10 nt. The functionalization of PDA on the solid-state
nanopore provides an opportunity for the rational design of the recognition
surface for biomolecules.