The Design and Characterization of Multifunctional Aptamer Nanopore Sensors.

Aptamer-modified nanomaterials provide a simple, yet powerful sensing platform when combined with resistive pulse sensing technologies. Aptamers adopt a more stable tertiary structure in the presence of a target analyte, which results in a change in charge density and velocity of the carrier particle. In practice the tertiary structure is specific for each aptamer and target, and the strength of the signal varies with different applications and experimental conditions.

Protein detection using tunable pores: resistive pulses and current rectification.

We present the first comparison between assays that use resistive pulses or rectification ratios on a tunable pore platform. We compare their ability to quantify the cancer biomarker Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). The first assay measures the electrophoretic mobility of aptamer modified nanoparticles as they traverse the pore.