Nanoporen für die Biologische Physik und die Physik der weichen Materie
Final Report Abstract
The project had the aim to establish nanopores as a research tool in biological and soft matter physics. In order to show that nanopores can be used as versatile tools in single moleculae biophysics we developed two improved experiments that allow for controlling molecular transport through nanopores with unprecedented precision. During the course of the project two major instruments were planned and built, namely an optical tweezers setup which enable to measure the force on a single molecule in a nanopore and a novel nanopore test station. The latter experiment can detect the signature of a molecule passing a nanopore while at the same time follow the fluorescence signal with millisecond time resolution. The work established that glass nanopores fabricated by laser-assisted pipette pulling are a versatile alternative to established solid-state nanopores made in silicon nitride or other membrane materials. The ease of fabrication allowed measurements with an unprecedented throughput and accuracy. Most notably, we could study single relaxing DNA molecules recoiling out of a nanopore as well as hydrodynamic interactions between many DNA polymers in confinement. This sheds light on the complex hydrodynamic interactions governing the molecular transport through nanopores. During the course of the project we also developed novel hybrid nanopores based on DNA origami self-assembly that will allow for a novel approach to nanopore sensing with improved sensitivity and specificity for the analyte. These tailor-made nanopores might also be used to create smart nanopore sensors that can be controlled by physical, chemical and biological interactions.
Publications
- Origin of the electrophoretic force in nanopores. Nature Physics, 5:347, 2009
S. van Dorp, U. F. Keyser, N. H. Dekker, C. Dekker, and S. G. Lemay
- Detecting DNA Folding with Nanocapillaries. Nano Letters, 10(7):2493–-2497, 2010
L. J. Steinbock, O. Otto, C. Chimerel, J. Gornall, and U. F. Keyser
- Real-time Particle Tracking at 10,000 fps using Optical Fiber Illumination. Optics Express, 18(22):22722-227733, 2010
O. Otto, F. Czerwinski, J. L. Gornall, G. Stober, L. B. Oddershedde, R. Seidel, and U. F. Keyser
- Tether forces in DNA electrophoresis. Chemical Society Reviews, 39:939 - 947, 2010
U. F. Keyser, S. Van Dorp, and S. G. Lemay
- Simple reconstitution of protein pores in nano lipid bilayers. Nano Letters, 11(8):3334-3340, 2011
L. J. Gornall, K. R. Mahendran, O. J. Pambos, L. J. Steinbock, O. Otto, C. Chimerel, M. Winterhalter, and U. F. Keyser
- DNA origami nanopores. Nano Letters, 12(1):512-517, 2012
N. A. W. Bell, C. R. Engst, M. Ablay, G. Divitini, C. Ducati, T. Liedl, and U. F. Keyser
- DNA Interactions in Crowded Nanopores. Nano Letters, 13(6):2798-2802, 2013
L. Laohakunakorn, S. Ghosal, O. Otto, K. Misiunas, and U. F. Keyser
- Rapid internal contraction boosts DNA friction. Nature Communication, 4, 1780, 2013
O. Otto, S. Sturm, U. F. Keyser, and K. Kroy
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2790)
