npj 2D Materials and Applications (Apr 2017)

Detection and mapping of DNA methylation with 2D material nanopores

  • Hu Qiu,
  • Aditya Sarathy,
  • Klaus Schulten,
  • Jean-Pierre Leburton

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41699-017-0005-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Epigenetics: DNA methylation electronically detected by 2D nanopores As one the most common epigenetic modifications in eukaryotic genomes, DNA methylation plays a crucial role in the expression of genes in mammalian cells. It holds great promise as a biomarker to investigate cell development and aging, and to be used in risk assessment and early diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. A team lead by Jean–Pierre Leburton at the University of Illinois in the USA shows by numerical simulation that the use of a few angstrom wide nanopores in a tri-atomic membrane of semiconducting molybdenum di-sulfide (MoS2) offers a powerful way to detect and map electronically and with high resolution the presence of individual methyl groups on a DNA molecule, thereby paving the way towards fast and low-cost DNA sequencing techniques for personal medicine.