A quasi-digital approach to peptide sequencing using tandem nanopores with endo- and exo-peptidases

A method of sequencing peptides using tandem cells (RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 167-171; RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 30694-30700) and peptidases is considered. A double tandem cell (two tandem cells in tandem) has three nanopores in series, an amino-acid-specific endopeptidase attached downstream of the first pore, and an exopeptidase attached downstream of the second pore. The endopeptidase cleaves a peptide threaded through the first pore into fragments that are well separated in time. Fragments pass through the second pore and are each cleaved by the exopeptidase into a series of single residues; the latter pass through the third pore and cause separate current blockades that can be counted. This leads to an ordered list of integers corresponding to the number of residues in each fragment. With 20 cells, one per amino acid type, and 20 peptide copies, the resulting 20 lists of integers are used by a simple algorithm to assemble the sequence. This is a quasi-digital process that uses the lengths of subsequences to sequence the peptide, it differs from conventional analog methods which seek to identify monomers in a polymer via differences in blockade levels, residence times, or transverse currents. Several implementation issues are discussed. In particular the problem of fast analyte translocation, widely considered intransigent, may be resolved through the use of a sufficiently long (40-60 nm) third pore. This translates to a required bandwidth of 1-2 MHz, which is within the range of currently available CMOS circuits.