A Peculiar Binding Characterization of DNA (RNA) Nucleobases at MoOS-Based Janus Biosensor: Dissimilar Facets Role on Selectivity and Sensitivity
bySlimane Laref, Bin Wang, Sahika Inal, Salah Al-Ghamdi, Xin Gao, Takashi Gojobori
Year:2022DOI:doi.org/10.3390/bios12070442
Abstract
Distinctive properties of Janus monolayer have
drawn much interest in biotechnology applications. For this purpose, it has
explored theoretically all sensing possibilities of nucleobases molecules
(DNA/RNA) by Janus MoOS monolayer on both oxygen and sulfur terminations by
means of rigorous first–principles calculation. Indeed, differences in
interaction energy between nucleobases indicate that a monolayer can be used
for DNA sequencing. Exothermic interaction energy range for DNA/RNA molecules
with both oxygen and sulfur sides of the Janus MoOS surfaces have been found to
range between (0.61–0.91 eV), and (0.63–0.88 eV), respectively, and the binding
distances indicate that these molecules bind to both facets by physisorption.
The exchange of weak electronic charges between the MoOS monolayer and the
nucleobases molecules has been studied by means of Hirshfeld-I charge analysis.
It has been observed that the introduction of DNA/RNA nucleobases molecules
alters the electronic properties of both oxygen and sulfur atomic layers of the
Janus MoOS complex systems as determined by plotting the 3D Kohn–Sham frontier
orbitals. A good correlation has been found between the interaction energy, van
der Waals energy, Hirshfeld-I, and d–band center as a function of the nucleobase’s
affinity, and the interaction energy, suggesting adsorption dominated by van
der Waals interactions driven by molybdenum d–orbital. Moreover, the lowering in the adsorption energy
leads to an active interaction of the DNA/RNA with the surfaces, accordingly
its conduct to shorter the recovery time. The selectivity of the biosensor
modulation device has illustrated a significant sensitivity for the nucleobases
on both the oxygen and sulfur layer sides of the MoOS monolayer. This finding
reveals that apart from graphene, dichalcogenides–Janus transition metal may
also be adequate for identifying DNA/RNA bases in applied biotechnology.