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H2020Individual fellowship2019–2021

Dielec2DBiomolecules · Dielectric measurement of two-dimentionally confined biomolecules at the nanoscale

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2019-09-10 → 2021-09-09
EU contribution
€224,934
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Dielectric measurement of two-dimentionally confined biomolecules at the nanoscale

Dielectric properties of biomolecules are known to influence macromolecular assembly and interactions. For example, it is well established that Coulomb forces play a crucial role in determining the DNA packaging and the binding affinity of clinically important molecules to a specific DNA sequence owing to the large charge density of DNA. Such forces in turn strongly depend on the molecular dielectric polarization (or dielectric constant) of DNA. Despite such a crucial role, dielectric properties of biomolecules has remained practically unexplored so far because measurements are challenging, hampered by the small size of the molecules and their interplay with their solvent. Recently, our group in Manchester succeeded in measuring the dielectric constant of few water layers under strong confinement. This was achieved by developing a new experiment platform that couples two novel nanotechnologies: scanning dielectric microscopy (SDM), a scanning probe microscope capable of probing dielectric properties son the nanoscale, and two-dimensional (2D) materials technology, which allows fabricating atomically thin channels and 2D liquid cells. In this project, by building on our initial study on water molecules, we will extend it to the case of biomolecules. We will implement a novel experimental platform to measure dielectric polarization of biomolecules under 2D confinement by scanning dielectric microscopy. Specifically, the overall objectives of this research are: - Design of new 2D liquid cells that allow scanning dielectric microscopy on confined biomolecules. - Measurement and extraction of the dielectric properties of 2D confined biomolecules. - Development of theoretical models and smart-data analysis software for the extraction of the dielectric properties of biomolecules under 2D confinement.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Macromolecular organization and interactions have long been recognized to be strongly influenced by electrostatic and electrodynamics interactions which in turn depend on the molecular polarizability. In particular, molecular polarization plays a fundamental role in the molecular structure of biomolecules like DNA and proteins. Yet, this physical property of biomolecules has remained almost unexplored so far because measurements on the molecular scale are a technical challenge. Previous experimental work mostly relied on standard approaches as such broadband dielectric spectroscopy which are limited to the micrometer scale and, therefore, cannot resolve the polarization properties of single molecules. Hence, new experimental approaches are needed to measure the polarizability of molecules at molecular level. In this project, we will tackle this important issue and develop a novel experimental platform that will allow to access for the first time the polarizability of biomolecules under two-dimensional (2D) confinement. This will be achieved by coupling two novel technologies of nanoscience: scanning dielectric microscopy, a recently developed scanning probe technique, and the 2D-materials technology. We will engineer novel 2D liquid cells by assembling 2D crystals, and we will measure the dielectric properties of the biomolecules confined inside using a scanning probe. This is an ambitious experimental research with a strong interdisciplinary and groundbreaking nature, based on the powerful combination of new microscopic approaches with novel 2D materials. The developed platform will access previously unknown physical properties of biomolecules that are crucial to understand their behaviour. It will provide much-needed feedback for first-principles and mean-field theories and allow a better understanding of biomolecular structure and functions.

Original text from CORDIS.

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Data: CORDIS, © European Union