The electromechanics of DNA in a synthetic nanopore

Jiunn B. Heng, Aleksei Aksimentiev, C Ho, Patrick Marks, Yelena V. Grinkova, S Sligar, Klaus Schulten, and Gregory Timp
Biophys J 90(3) 1098-106 (2006)
DOI:10.1529/biophysj.105.070672  PMID:16284270  BibTex

We have explored the electromechanical properties of DNA on a nanometer-length scale using an electric field to force single molecules through synthetic nanopores in ultrathin silicon nitride membranes. At low electric fields, E < 200 mV/10 nm, we observed that single-stranded DNA can permeate pores with a diameter >/=1.0 nm, whereas double-stranded DNA only permeates pores with a diameter >/=3 nm. For pores