2002/09/30 by Alexis F. Sauer-Budge, Jacqueline A. Nyamwanda, David K. Lubensky +1 · 6 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Electrostatics and Colloid Interactions #Ion-surface interactions and analysis #Nanopore and Nanochannel Transport Studies #cond-mat.soft #q-bio
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.90.238101
10 pages, 5 figures, Accepted: Physics Review Letters
arxiv created 2003/05/02 · openalex publication_date 2003/06/09 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We studied the unzipping of single molecules of double-stranded DNA by pulling one of their two strands through a narrow protein pore. Polymerase chain reaction analysis yielded the first direct proof of DNA unzipping in such a system. The time to unzip each molecule was inferred from the ionic current signature of DNA traversal. The distribution of times to unzip under various experimental conditions fit a simple kinetic model. Using this model, we estimated the enthalpy barriers to unzipping and the effective charge of a nucleotide in the pore, which was considerably smaller than previously assumed.