Biological cell membranes contain various types of ion channels and transmembrane pores in the 1–100 nm range, which are vital for cellular function. Individual channels can be probed electrically, as demonstrated by Neher and Sakmann in 1976 using the patch-clamp technique [Neher and Sakmann (1976) Nature 260, 799–802]. Since the 1990s, this work has inspired the use of protein or solid-state nanopores as inexpensive and ultrafast sensors for the detection of biomolecules, including DNA, RNA and proteins, but with particular focus on DNA sequencing. Solid-state nanopores in particular have the advantage that the pore size can be tailored to the analyte in question and that they can be modified using semi-conductor processing technology. This establishes solid-state nanopores as a new class of single-molecule biosensor devices, in some cases with submolecular resolution. In the present review, we discuss a few of the most important recent developments in this field and how they might be applied to studying protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions or in the context of ultra-fast DNA sequencing.
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Conference Article|
July 20 2012
Solid-state nanopores for biosensing with submolecular resolution
Azadeh Bahrami;
Azadeh Bahrami
1
*Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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Fatma Doğan;
Fatma Doğan
1
*Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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Deanpen Japrung;
Deanpen Japrung
1
*Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
†National Nanotechnology Centre (NANOTEC), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), 111 Thailand Science Park, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand
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Tim Albrecht
Tim Albrecht
2
*Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
2To whom correspondences should be addressed (emailt.albrecht@imperial.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
May 01 2012
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2012 Biochemical Society
2012
Biochem Soc Trans (2012) 40 (4): 624–628.
Article history
Received:
May 01 2012
Citation
Azadeh Bahrami, Fatma Doğan, Deanpen Japrung, Tim Albrecht; Solid-state nanopores for biosensing with submolecular resolution. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2012; 40 (4): 624–628. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20120121
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