Nonexponential kinetics of DNA escape from alpha-hemolysin nanopores.

Matthew Wiggin, Carolina Tropini, Vincent Tabard-Cossa, Nahid N Jetha, Andre Marziali

Journal: Biophysical journal 2009;95(11):5317-23

PMID: 18775965

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Abstract

Throughput and resolution of DNA sequence detection technologies employing nanometer scale pores hinge on accurate kinetic descriptions of DNA motion in nanopores. We present the first detailed experimental study of DNA escape kinetics from alpha-hemolysin nanopores and show that anomalously long escape times for some events result in nonexponential kinetics. From the distribution of first-passage times, we determine that the energy barrier to escape follows a Poisson-like distribution, most likely due to stochastic weak binding events between the DNA and amino acid residues in the pore.

Address: Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.108.137760

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MeSH Terms: DNA, DNA, Single-Stranded, Hemolysin Proteins, Kinetics, Nanostructures, Poisson Distribution, Porosity, Static Electricity, Stochastic Processes, Time Factors