Extreme Slowdown of dsDNA and RNA:DNA Hybrids in Solid-state Nanopores for LiCl concentrations above 4 mol/L
- 1University of Cambridge
Abstract
Solid-state nanopores enable single-molecule detection and characterization through ionic-current measurements, but rapid translocation can limit the resolution of molecular features. Here, we investigated the translocation of 7.2 kb dsDNA and 3.3 kb RNA:DNA hybrids at LiCl concentrations extending to 7 mol/L. Both constructs exhibited a substantial increase of {gtrsim} 500% in mean translocation time when increasing LiCl concentration from 2--3 M to 7 M . We also observed a decrease in translocation frequency at increasing LiCl concentration. Both observations indicate a reduction in the effective electric driving force. Further analysis indicates a substantial decrease in the relative width of secondary peaks induced by labels on the molecule. Our results show that increasing salt concentration beyond 4 mol/L is an accessible way for increasing translocation time in solid-state nanopore sensing, with possible implications for barcode sensing resolution.
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BibTeX
@misc{brauburger2026extreme,
title = {{Extreme Slowdown of dsDNA and RNA:DNA Hybrids in Solid-state Nanopores for LiCl concentrations above 4 mol/L}},
author = {S. Brauburger and Y. Wu and U. F. Keyser},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.28.762501},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762501v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Extreme Slowdown of dsDNA and RNA:DNA Hybrids in Solid-state Nanopores for LiCl concentrations above 4 mol/L
AU - S. Brauburger
AU - Y. Wu
AU - U. F. Keyser
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.28.762501
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.28.762501v1
AB - Solid-state nanopores enable single-molecule detection and characterization through ionic-current measurements, but rapid translocation can limit the resolution of molecular features. Here, we investigated the translocation of 7.2 kb dsDNA and 3.3 kb RNA:DNA hybrids at LiCl concentrations extending to 7 mol/L. Both constructs exhibited a substantial increase of {gtrsim} 500% in mean translocation time when increasing LiCl concentration from 2--3 M to 7 M . We also observed a decrease in translocation frequency at increasing LiCl concentration. Both observations indicate a reduction in the effective electric driving force. Further analysis indicates a substantial decrease in the relative width of secondary peaks induced by labels on the molecule. Our results show that increasing salt concentration beyond 4 mol/L is an accessible way for increasing translocation time in solid-state nanopore sensing, with possible implications for barcode sensing resolution.
ER -