Fig. 5: Analysis of the effects of the intracellular environment on single molecule translocation of DNA.

A The same nanopipette was filled with 5 nM 7 kbp dsDNA in PBS mixed with 10 µM ATTO 488 fluorescent dye, and a voltage of −500 mV was used to drive the dsDNA from the nanopipette to either the HeLa RNuc cell, PBS or 30% (w/v) BSA PBS. The cell turns fluorescently green after the injection due to the ATTO 488. B The 5 s current traces of the translocation of the dsDNA into either PBS, 30% (w/v) BSA PBS or cell. C The population distribution of the translocation event of the 7 kbp dsDNA, both 30% (w/v) BSA PBS and cell show a wider distribution on the dwell time. D The equivalent charge of the translocation events was plotted, and a clear shift can be observed between PBS and 30% (w/v) BSA PBS and cell. The box and whisker plots show the median value, the 25th and 75th percentile (box) and upper extreme and lower extreme (whisker). For C and D, a total of 500 events were randomly sampled and plotted. The experiments were repeated three times, and the replicates can be found in the Supplementary Information. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.