Kasianowicz J J, Brandin E, Branton D, Deamer D W
Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Science and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Nov 26;93(24):13770-3. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.24.13770.
We show that an electric field can drive single-stranded RNA and DNA molecules through a 2.6-nm diameter ion channel in a lipid bilayer membrane. Because the channel diameter can accommodate only a single strand of RNA or DNA, each polymer traverses the membrane as an extended chain that partially blocks the channel. The passage of each molecule is detected as a transient decrease of ionic current whose duration is proportional to polymer length. Channel blockades can therefore be used to measure polynucleotide length. With further improvements, the method could in principle provide direct, high-speed detection of the sequence of bases in single molecules of DNA or RNA.
我们表明,电场可驱动单链RNA和DNA分子穿过脂质双分子层膜中直径为2.6纳米的离子通道。由于通道直径仅能容纳单链RNA或DNA,每条聚合物链作为一条伸展链穿过膜,该伸展链会部分阻塞通道。每个分子的通过被检测为离子电流的瞬时下降,其持续时间与聚合物长度成正比。因此,通道阻塞可用于测量多核苷酸长度。随着进一步改进,该方法原则上可以直接、高速地检测DNA或RNA单分子中的碱基序列。