Electrically sensing Hachimoji DNA nucleotides through a hybrid graphene/h-BN nanopore
Electrically sensing Hachimoji DNA nucleotides through a hybrid graphene/h-BN nanopore
复制标题
DOI：
10.1039/d0nr04363j
复制
发表时间：
2020-09-21
期刊：
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Amorim, Rodrigo G.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
de Souza, Fabio A. L.;Sivaraman, Ganesh;Amorim, Rodrigo G.
合成非自然DNA/RNA的可行性最近被证明，在合成生物学，DNA数据存储，甚至在宇宙中寻找外星生命的新兴领域产生了新的视角和挑战。鉴于这种突出的潜力，固态纳米孔作为有前途的候选材料被广泛探索，为下一代无标签、快速、低成本的DNA测序铺平了道路。在这项工作中，我们探索了基于石墨烯/h-BN的纳米孔结构对检测和区分合成Hachimoji核碱基的灵敏度和选择性。该研究是基于密度泛函理论和非平衡格林函数形式理论的结合。我们的研究结果表明，人工核碱基与该装置结合较弱，表明在易位过程中在纳米孔中停留时间较短。根据纳米孔中存在的人工核碱基的不同，该装置的电子传输特性发生了显著变化，导致区分灵敏度高达80%。因此，我们的研究结果表明，所提出的纳米孔装置可以定性地区分合成的核碱基，从而开辟了测序甚至非天然DNA/RNA的可行性。
The feasibility of synthesizing unnatural DNA/RNA has recently been demonstrated, giving rise to new perspectives and challenges in the emerging field of synthetic biology, DNA data storage, and even the search for extraterrestrial life in the universe. In line with this outstanding potential, solid-state nanopores have been extensively explored as promising candidates to pave the way for the next generation of label-free, fast, and low-cost DNA sequencing. In this work, we explore the sensitivity and selectivity of a graphene/h-BN based nanopore architecture towards detection and distinction of synthetic Hachimoji nucleobases. The study is based on a combination of density functional theory and the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. Our findings show that the artificial nucleobases are weakly binding to the device, indicating a short residence time in the nanopore during translocation. Significant changes in the electron transmission properties of the device are noted depending on which artificial nucleobase resides in the nanopore, leading to a sensitivity in distinction of up to 80%. Our results thus indicate that the proposed nanopore device setup can qualitatively discriminate synthetic nucleobases, thereby opening up the feasibility of sequencing even unnatural DNA/RNA.