Nanopore decoding for a Hamiltonian path problem

Nanoscale. 2021 Mar 28;13(12):6192-6200. doi: 10.1039/d0nr09031j. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Abstract

DNA computing has attracted attention as a tool for solving mathematical problems due to the potential for massive parallelism with low energy consumption. However, decoding the output information to a human-recognizable signal is generally time-consuming owing to the requirement for multiple steps of biological operations. Here, we describe simple and rapid decoding of the DNA-computed output for a directed Hamiltonian path problem (HPP) using nanopore technology. In this approach, the output DNA duplex undergoes unzipping whilst passing through an α-hemolysin nanopore, with information electrically decoded as the unzipping time of the hybridized strands. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate nanopore decoding of the HPP of a small graph encoded in DNA. Our results show the feasibility of nanopore measurement as a rapid and label-free decoding method for mathematical DNA computation using parallel self-assembly.

MeSH terms

  • Computers, Molecular
  • DNA
  • Hemolysin Proteins
  • Humans
  • Nanopores*

Substances

  • Hemolysin Proteins
  • DNA