A paper has been published by Lab on a Chip

Study on a method for separating methylated DNA using the selective capture of unmethylated DNA on nanowires.  We have been selected for the front cover.

Abstract
DNA methylation is a well-known epigenetic modification that serves as a biomarker for early cancer progression. However, conventional methods for DNA methylation analysis are often complex, time-consuming, and prone to DNA degradation. In this study, we report a method for concentrating methylated DNA by selectively capturing unmethylated DNA using zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires without requiring chemical or biological modifications. We discovered a difference in affinities between methylated DNA and ZnO nanowires and between unmethylated DNA and ZnO nanowires, and identified potential factors, such as differences in hydrogen bonding strength and the effects of methylation on DNA strand behavior (e.g., self-aggregation). As a result, ZnO nanowire-based microfluidic devices effectively collect unmethylated DNA, proving particularly useful for the enrichment of low-concentration methylated DNA. This ZnO nanowire-based microfluidic device enables the direct separation of specific methylated DNA and holds potential for advancing DNA methylation mapping in clinical disease diagnostics.

Paper Information
Selective adsorption of unmethylated DNA on ZnO nanowires for separation of methylated DNA
Marina Musa, Zetao Zhu*, Hiromi Takahashi, Wataru Shinoda, Yoshinobu Baba, and Takao Yasui*
Lab on a Chip (2025), DOI: 10.1039/d4lc00893f

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