This thesis focuses on the exploration of individual confined polymer physics that arise in nanofluidic channel with the goal to developing novel diagnostic bioanalysis technology in such nanoscale systems. Standard microfabrication technologies can fabricate slit-like nanofluidic channels with dimension down to few tens nanometers. This is below the persistence length of double-strand DNA (ds-DNA) p~50 nm. The technique provides to precisely manipulate the dynamics, conformation and transport of biomolecules in nanoconfinement. As a result of restricted conformation entropy and DNA-wall interaction that can govern the static and dynamics properties of confined single ds-DNA. The conformation, shape, chain diffusivity and chain relaxation are characterized using fluorescence wide-field microscopy and compared with scaling theoretical predictions.
The chain length dependence of DNA properties confined in nanoslit with dimension close to the Kuhn length lk (~ 100 nm) is systematically investigated. Fluorescently labeled single DNA molecules with contour lengths L ranges from 4 to 75 microns are used in the experiments. The distributions of the chain radius of gyration and the two-dimensional asphericity are measured. It is found that the DNA molecules exhibit highly anisotropic shape even for circular-form and the mean asphericity is chain length independence. The shape anisotropy of DNA in our measurements is between three dimensional (3d) and two dimensional (2d). The static scaling law of the chain extension and the radius of gyration ~ L^ν are observed with νr|| = 0.65 ± 0.02 and νRg = 0.68 ± 0.05. These results are close to the average value between two (νr, Rg = 0.75) and three (νr, Rg = 0.6) dimensional self avoiding walk theoretical value. The scaling of the extensional and rotational relaxation time are between Rouse, good solvent and Zimm, good solvent dynamics in nanoslits and the bulk solution, respectively. We show that the conformation and chain relaxation of DNA confined in a slit close to the Kuhn length lk exhibit the quasi-two dimensional behaviors.
The topological dependence ofλ-DNA (48.5kbp) confined in nanoslit ranging from moderate confinement (channel height h = 780 nm ~ radius of gyration of λ-DNA in bulk solution) to strong confinement (h = 20 nm << p) are systematically investigated. There is a drastic change of measured extension of linear rl and relaxed-circular rc of λ-DNA at h = 140 nm ~ lk. The conformation change from“blob-chain” (de Gennes regime : lk < h < Rg,bulk) to “reflecting chain” (Odijk regime : h < lk). The shape properties of both linear and relaxed circular λ-DNA, which the behaviors change from 3d to 2d with decreasing channel height, are observed. The diffusivity of relaxed circular DNA is larger than linear DNA in nanoslit, which implies the hydrodynamic radius of circular DNA is smaller than linear DNA. Scaling of extensional relaxation time with channel height (τ|| ~ h^-0.44) does not agree with de Gennes blob theory (τ|| ~ h^-1.17), which is strictly applicable when slit height is larger than the Kuhn length.
A novel method to trap and stretch individual ds-DNA molecules using nano-height obstacles in the nanoslit channel is demonstrated. The DNA molecules are unusually physically adsorbed and extend around obstacles such as cylindrical posts or sidewalls of the same charge, in contrast to the expected behavior based on electrostatic and depletion interactions. This trapping occurs only when h is less than lk of ds-DNA. The static scaling law of the chain extension for adsorbed DNA of length N follows a power law ~ N^0.81, close to the N dependence in one dimensional square channel confinement. The wall-trapped DNA appears to have one dimensional conformation and dynamics in the nanoslit that is quasi-two dimensional. The conformation of DNA trapped around the posts can be compressed and decompressed using DC electric field and the transport of DNA between post arrays exhibits the trapping-escaping behavior.