High speed molecular sensing with nanopores
First Claim
1. A method for molecular counting and/or sorting, comprising:
- a. providing a nanopore array comprising multiple nanopores in a lipid bilayer membrane and multiple nanopore detectors, each of said nanopore detectors comprising a top electrode and a bottom conductive electrode, wherein the top electrode is in contact with a conductive solution and the bottom conductive electrode is positioned adjacent to an individual nanopore, wherein the bottom conductive electrode is adapted to detect a current passing through the individual nanopore, and wherein the individual nanopore is individually addressable by the adjacent bottom conductive electrode;
b. providing a plurality of oligonucleotide markers wherein each of the oligonucleotide markers comprise oligonucleotides of between 10 and 100 nucleotides, wherein at least two of the oligonucleotides of between 10 and 100 nucleotides hybridize with a nucleic acid sample to produce a combined probe, wherein a first oligonucleotide of the at least two of the oligonucleotides has a label molecule attached to it and a second oligonucleotide has a sequence of bases that provides a unique current level in the nanopore for each of the oligonucleotide markers, wherein the second oligonucleotide hybridizes to an oligonucleotide that is attached to a bead for capture and isolation of the combined probe,c. capturing and identifying at least one oligonucleotide marker within the plurality of oligonucleotide markers with at least one nanopore and at least one nanopore detector within the nanopore array at a rate of at least about one oligonucleotide marker per second per at least one nanopore, wherein the at least one oligonucleotide marker is identified based on a current that flows through the individual nanopore and an applied voltage of between 40 to 200 mV at which the oligonucleotide marker is released from the nanopore, andd. sorting the plurality of oligonucleotide markers into selected oligonucleotide markers and unselected oligonucleotide markers, wherein the selected oligonucleotide markers are captured, identified, and held in nanopores within the nanopore array, and wherein the unselected oligonucleotide markers are captured, identified, and released from nanopores within the nanopore array; and
further wherein the selected oligonucleotide markers are released as a group when the percentage of selected oligonucleotide markers that are captured is at least 50%.
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Abstract
Described herein are methods and devices for capturing and determining the identity of molecules using nanopores. The molecules can be counted, sorted and/or binned rapidly in a parallel manner using a large number of nanopores (e.g., 132,000 nanopores reading 180 million molecules in 1 hour). This fast capture and reading of a molecule can be used to capture probe molecules or other molecules that have been generated to represent an original, hard to detect molecule or portions of an original molecule. Precise counting of sample molecules or surrogates for sample molecules can occur. The methods and devices described herein can, among other things, replace flow cytometers and other counting instruments (e.g., while providing increased precision and throughput relative to a flow cytometer). In some cases, the devices and methods capture and hold particular molecules or surrogates of molecules in the nanopores and then eject them into clean solution to perform a capture, sorting, and binning function similar to flow cytometers.
224 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method for molecular counting and/or sorting, comprising:
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a. providing a nanopore array comprising multiple nanopores in a lipid bilayer membrane and multiple nanopore detectors, each of said nanopore detectors comprising a top electrode and a bottom conductive electrode, wherein the top electrode is in contact with a conductive solution and the bottom conductive electrode is positioned adjacent to an individual nanopore, wherein the bottom conductive electrode is adapted to detect a current passing through the individual nanopore, and wherein the individual nanopore is individually addressable by the adjacent bottom conductive electrode; b. providing a plurality of oligonucleotide markers wherein each of the oligonucleotide markers comprise oligonucleotides of between 10 and 100 nucleotides, wherein at least two of the oligonucleotides of between 10 and 100 nucleotides hybridize with a nucleic acid sample to produce a combined probe, wherein a first oligonucleotide of the at least two of the oligonucleotides has a label molecule attached to it and a second oligonucleotide has a sequence of bases that provides a unique current level in the nanopore for each of the oligonucleotide markers, wherein the second oligonucleotide hybridizes to an oligonucleotide that is attached to a bead for capture and isolation of the combined probe, c. capturing and identifying at least one oligonucleotide marker within the plurality of oligonucleotide markers with at least one nanopore and at least one nanopore detector within the nanopore array at a rate of at least about one oligonucleotide marker per second per at least one nanopore, wherein the at least one oligonucleotide marker is identified based on a current that flows through the individual nanopore and an applied voltage of between 40 to 200 mV at which the oligonucleotide marker is released from the nanopore, and d. sorting the plurality of oligonucleotide markers into selected oligonucleotide markers and unselected oligonucleotide markers, wherein the selected oligonucleotide markers are captured, identified, and held in nanopores within the nanopore array, and wherein the unselected oligonucleotide markers are captured, identified, and released from nanopores within the nanopore array; and
further wherein the selected oligonucleotide markers are released as a group when the percentage of selected oligonucleotide markers that are captured is at least 50%. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification