A research team headed by a professor from Virginia Commonwealth University has succeeded in improving a method used for determining the charge, size and shape of water-soluble molecules.
Joseph Reiner, Ph.D.
Joseph Reiner, Department of Physics, Assistant professor of experimental nanoscience in the College of Humanities and Sciences and his co-workers have enumerated their discovery in an article "Enhanced Single Molecule Mass Spectrometry Via Charged Metallic Clusters," to be published in the Analytical Chemistry journal.
Nanopore sensing is a technique by which one can study about the chemical and physical characteristics of molecules in a solution. The technique has resulted in key advancements in DNA analysis, however it has been limited when applied to metabolites or proteins. A reason for this problem is the short time span spent by the molecules in the nanopore. The short time span makes it tough to precisely measure molecule characteristics.
The novel technique addresses the challenge of short residence time by utilizing charged gold nanoparticles in the nanopore to ensure that oppositely charged molecules remain in the pore for longer time periods.
We all know opposite charges attract, and we knew our gold nanoparticles were negatively charged so we thought that if we introduced positively charged molecules into the pore while a gold nanoparticle was there, then perhaps the molecule would hang around a bit longer inside the pore. This is exactly what happened.
Joseph Reiner, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor
According to Reiner, by using this method it was possible to use nanopore sensing to a broader range of molecules beyond DNA and this may help understand the development and functioning of diseases. Reiner also added that this technique would help in expanding the type and number of molecules that could be identified and evaluated with nanopore sensing.
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