Spin Filtering through Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized with Single‐Stranded DNA

High spin polarization materials or spin filters are key components in spintronics, a niche subfield of electronics where carrier spins play a functional role. Carrier transmission through these materials is “spin selective,” that is, these materials are able to discriminate between “up” and “down” spins. Common spin filters include transition metal ferromagnets and their alloys, with typical spin selectivity (or, polarization) of ≈50% or less. Here carrier transport is considered in an archetypical one‐dimensional molecular hybrid in which a single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is wrapped around by single stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (ssDNA). By magnetoresistance measurements it is shown that this system can act as a spin filter with maximum spin polarization approaching ≈74% at low temperatures, significantly larger than transition metals under comparable conditions. Inversion asymmetric helicoidal potential of the charged ssDNA backbone induces a Rashba spin‐orbit interaction in the SWCNT channel and polarizes carrier spins. The results are consistent with recent theoretical work that predicted spin dependent conductance in ssDNA‐SWCNT hybrid. Ability to generate highly spin polarized carriers using molecular functionalization can lead to magnet‐less and contact‐less spintronic devices in the future. This can eliminate the conductivity mismatch problem and open new directions for research in organic spintronics.     

Exploring the deep biosphere

Over the past two decades, scientific drilling into sediments and rocks in the ocean and the continent has revealed the presence of physiologically and phylogenetically complex microbial life in the deep subsurface. Microorganisms, most of which have no cultured or known relatives in the surface biosphere, have been discovered in sediments and rock at depth as deep as 1 km below the seafloor and more than 3 km deep in the continent. The deep biosphere probably represents the most voluminous part of the glob...     

当归红芪超滤物对重离子12C6+辐射肝癌细胞DNA损伤修复的影响

将人肝癌H22细胞分成4组,分别为对照组、药物组(100 mg/L)、辐射组(2 Gy)及联合组(100 mg/L药物 + 2 Gy照射),采用CCK-8法、单细胞凝胶电泳、γ-H2AX免疫荧光原位杂交技术以及Western Blotting印迹法,研究当归红芪超滤物(Radix Angelicae Sinensis and Radix Hedysari, RAS-RH)对重离子¹²C⁶⁺辐射引起人肝癌H22细胞DNA损伤修复的影响和其可能的机制。结果表明,在0～72 h和给药剂量为5～200 mg/L范围内,RAS-RH对人肝癌H22细胞的增殖抑制作用具有时间和剂量依赖性,其20%抑制浓度IC₂₀为(117.6±2.15)mg/L;单细胞凝胶电泳显示联合组头部DNA含量低于辐射组,而尾部DNA含量、尾距TM、Olive尾距OTM均高于辐射组;γ-H2AX免疫荧光原位杂交技术发现RAS-RH不增加重离子¹²C⁶⁺辐射引起的DNA损伤,但在2—12 h,DNA双链断裂的γ-H2AX foci修复作用被RAS-RH抑制,DNA损伤持续存在;Western Blotting显示RAS-RH通过下调Ku70/80及Rad51的蛋白表达,抑制γ-H2AX的聚集。以上结果说明RAS-RH对人肝癌H22细胞的辐射增敏作用可能是下调DNA损伤修复相关因子Ku70/80及Rad51的表达。     

Label-Free in Situ Monitoring of the DNA Hybridization Chain Reaction by Using Sequence-Selective Minor-Groove-Binding Fluorophores

A new label-free in situ monitoring system for the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) based on DNA minor-groove-binding fluorophores [Hoechst 33258 (Hoe) or quinone cyanine-dithiazole (QCy-DT)] has been developed. Use of two unmodified hairpin oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing incomplete double-stranded AATT sequences enabled target-dependent formation of probe binding sites—that is, AATT double strand—in the HCR product, together with fluorescence enhancement of minor-groove-binding fluorophores in situ. This system allows target DNA to be detected through the fluorescence enhancement of Hoe and QCy-DT in real time and in situ. Further development of a label-free, isothermal detection system might provide a cost-effective and user-friendly method for nucleic acid detection.