Electronic transport in methylated fragments of DNA

Journal Article · Mon Nov 16 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936099· OSTI ID:22486107

Almeida, M. L. de; Oliveira, J. I. N.; Lima Neto, J. X.; Gomes, C. E. M.; Albuquerque, E. L. ^[1]; Freire, V. N. ^[2]; Caetano, E. W. S. ^[3]; Lyra, M. L. ^[4]

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1. Departamento de Biofísica e Farmacologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 59072-970 Natal-RN (Brazil)
2. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60455-760 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)
3. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará, 60040-531 Fortaleza, CE (Brazil)
4. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, 57072-900 Maceió-AL (Brazil)

We investigate the electronic transport properties of methylated deoxyribonucleic-acid (DNA) strands, a biological system in which methyl groups are added to DNA (a major epigenetic modification in gene expression), sandwiched between two metallic platinum electrodes. Our theoretical simulations apply an effective Hamiltonian based on a tight-binding model to obtain current-voltage curves related to the non-methylated/methylated DNA strands. The results suggest potential applications in the development of novel biosensors for molecular diagnostics.

• OSTI ID: 22486107
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 20; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DNA
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRODES
GENES
HAMILTONIANS
MODIFICATIONS
PLATINUM
SIMULATION