Hydraphile Nanopore as the Future in DNA SequencingSaifuddin Aijaz1, Aaron Choi2, Davis Sneider3

Faculty Mentor: David Wendell,PhD1

1Department of Biomedical, Chemical, and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH2Department of Electrical Engineering and Computing Systems, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

3Department of Electrical and Computer Science, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

AcknowledgementWe would like to thank the National Science Foundation for funding our research under Grant Nos. DUE 0756921 and EEC 1004623.

We would also like to thank Dr. David Wendell and Ms. Elizabeth Wurtzler for their lab equipment and endless help in our research.

Methods

Goals

ResultsPassed DNA through nanopore: Hydraphile nanopore was found to translocate all lengths of DNA. These lengths were found to produce blockage events across the nanopore. The fragments were found to have unique blockage pattern.Found approximate dwell times:Dwell time per base pairs were found to be similar to alpha hemolysin. Dwell time was found to decrease with increasing fragment length.

SignificanceWith sequencing, it is possible to: identify genes for genetic disorders such as cancer or cystic fibrosis, identify suspects in crimes, differentiate different pathogens and be used in the field of genetic engineering. However, DNA sequencing is both expensive and time consuming. The hydraphile is a potential nanopore for sequencing which can reduce the cost and time.

ConclusionsThe hydraphile could be used to sequence DNA:Conductance characteristics of the nanopore were found to fall in the range of other nanopores used for DNA passage. The high average dwell time per base pair indicates that this nanopore could be used for DNA sequencing.

•Test ability of nanopore under different buffer conditions•Used nanopore to pass DNA

The hydraphile was inserted into vesicles made of DPHPC and fused into a bilayer lipid membrane. Conductance of the nanopore was measured by electric current recordings for DNA fragments of lengths 250 bp, 500 bp, 1000 bp, 2500bp, and 5000 bp.