Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 3, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/srep02381
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [0546165]
- National Institutes of Health [GM079613]
- University of Missouri Intellectual Property Fast Track Initiative [A8881]
- National Centre for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health [C06-RR-016489-01]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Chemistry [0546165] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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DNA methylation is an important epigenetic regulation of gene transcription. Locus-specific DNA methylation can be used as biomarkers in various diseases including cancer. Many methods have been developed for genome-wide methylation analysis, but molecular diagnotics needs simple tools to determine methylation states at individual CpG sites in a gene fragment. In this report, we utilized the nanopore single-molecule sensor to investigate a base-pair specific metal ion/nucleic acids interaction, and explored its potential application in locus-specific DNA methylation analysis. We identified that divalent Mercury ion (Hg2+) can selectively bind a uracil-thymine mismatch (U-T) in a dsDNA. The Hg2+ binding creates a reversible interstrand lock, called MercuLock, which enhances the hybridization strength by two orders of magnitude. Such MercuLock cannot be formed in a 5-methylcytosine-thymine mismatch (mC-T). By nanopore detection of dsDNA stability, single bases of uracil and 5-methylcytosine can be distinguished. Since uracil is converted from cytosine by bisulfite treatment, cytosine and 5'-methylcytosine can be discriminated. We have demonstrated the methylation analysis of multiple CpGs in a p16 gene CpG island. This single-molecule assay may have potential in detection of epigenetic cancer biomarkers in biofluids, with an ultimate goal for early diagnosis of cancer.
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