Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003.
Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Aug 15;120(33):e2306130120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2306130120. Epub 2023 Aug 7.
Electronic detection of DNA oligomers offers the promise of rapid, miniaturized DNA analysis across various biotechnological applications. However, known all-electrical methods, which solely rely on measuring electrical signals in transducers during probe-target DNA hybridization, are prone to nonspecific electrostatic and electrochemical interactions, subsequently limiting their specificity and detection limit. Here, we demonstrate a nanomechanoelectrical approach that delivers ultra-robust specificity and a 100-fold improvement in detection limit. We drive nanostructural DNA strands tethered to a graphene transistor to oscillate in an alternating electric field and show that the transistor-current spectra are characteristic and indicative of DNA hybridization. We find that the inherent difference in pliability between unpaired and paired DNA strands leads to the spectral characteristics with minimal influence from nonspecific electrostatic and electrochemical interactions, resulting in high selectivity and sensitivity. Our results highlight the potential of high-performance DNA analysis based on miniaturized all-electronic settings.
电子检测 DNA 寡聚体有望在各种生物技术应用中实现快速、微型化的 DNA 分析。然而，已知的全电学方法仅依赖于在探针-靶 DNA 杂交过程中测量传感器中的电信号，容易受到非特异性静电和电化学相互作用的影响，从而限制了它们的特异性和检测限。在这里，我们展示了一种纳米机械电化学方法，该方法提供了超高的特异性和检测限提高了 100 倍。我们驱动与石墨烯晶体管相连的纳米结构 DNA 链在交变电场中振荡，并表明晶体管电流谱是 DNA 杂交的特征谱。我们发现，未配对和配对 DNA 链之间柔韧性的固有差异导致了具有最小非特异性静电和电化学相互作用影响的光谱特征，从而具有高选择性和灵敏度。我们的结果突出了基于小型化全电子设置的高性能 DNA 分析的潜力。
