Modeling the electrostatic signature of single enzyme activity.

Charge sensors based on nanoscale field-effect transistors are a promising new tool to probe the dynamics of individual enzymes. However, it is currently unknown whether the electrostatic signals associated with biological activity exceed detection limits. We report calculations of electrostatic signatures of two representative enzymes, deoxyribonuclease I and T4 lysozyme. Our simulations reveal that substrate binding to deoxyribonuclease and internal dynamics of lysozyme are detectable at the single-molecule level using existing point-functionalized carbon nanotube sensors.