Abstract
Nanopore experiments have traditionally been carried out with chloride-based solutions. Here we introduce silver/silver-glutamate-based electrochemistry as an alternative, and study the viscosity, conductivity, and nanopore translocation characteristics of potassium-, sodium-, and lithium-glutamate solutions. We show that it has a linear response at typical voltages and can be used to detect DNA translocations through a nanopore. The glutamate anion also acts as a redox-capable thickening agent, with high-viscosity solutions capable of slowing down the DNA translocation process by up to 11 times, with a corresponding 7 time reduction in signal. These results demonstrate that glutamate can replace chloride as the primary anion in nanopore resistive pulse sensing.
Highlights
Solid-state nanopores constitute an emerging biophysical technique which has been used to study DNA,[1] protein,[2] and DNA– protein complexes.[3,4,5] this area has been primarily pushed by the promise of its use for low-cost sequencing of long nucleic acid polymers, many other applications have opened up
In this study we introduce a novel electrochemical reaction based on glutamate (Glu) anions and demonstrate its potential for studying DNA translocations through solid-state nanopores
In this study we introduce the concept of redox capable thickening agents, which simultaneously increase the solution viscosity and participate in the electrochemical ionic current readout
Summary
Solid-state nanopores constitute an emerging biophysical technique which has been used to study DNA,[1] protein,[2] and DNA– protein complexes.[3,4,5] this area has been primarily pushed by the promise of its use for low-cost sequencing of long nucleic acid polymers, many other applications have opened up. In this study we introduce a novel electrochemical reaction based on glutamate (Glu) anions and demonstrate its potential for studying DNA translocations through solid-state nanopores. This approach provides a way to avoid the use of chloride and slow down the translocation velocity using high-viscosity solutions. Analogous to the silver chloride case, we expect similar electrochemical reactions to take place at the anode. In this way, glutamate could be used as a redox-capable thickening agent to increase the viscosity of a solution while still maintaining the required electrochemistry
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