Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications

Details Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications

2006-09-15

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0609378v1

Journal of Physics C (Condensed Matter),18 (2006) R531-R583

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

Latex, 60 pages, 12 figures, Topical Review for J. Phys. C (Cond. Matt)

Scientific paper

10.1088/0953-8984/18/32/R01

I review single-molecule experiments (SME) in biological physics. Recent technological developments have provided the tools to design and build scientific instruments of high enough sensitivity and precision to manipulate and visualize individual molecules and measure microscopic forces. Using SME it is possible to: manipulate molecules one at a time and measure distributions describing molecular properties; characterize the kinetics of biomolecular reactions and; detect molecular intermediates. SME provide the additional information about thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecular processes. This complements information obtained in traditional bulk assays. In SME it is also possible to measure small energies and detect large Brownian deviations in biomolecular reactions, thereby offering new methods and systems to scrutinize the basic foundations of statistical mechanics. This review is written at a very introductory level emphasizing the importance of SME to scientists interested in knowing the common playground of ideas and the interdisciplinary topics accessible by these techniques. The review discusses SME from an experimental perspective, first exposing the most common experimental methodologies and later presenting various molecular systems where such techniques have been applied. I briefly discuss experimental techniques such as atomic-force microscopy (AFM), laser optical tweezers (LOT), magnetic tweezers (MT), biomembrane force probe (BFP) and single-molecule fluorescence (SMF). I then present several applications of SME to the study of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA and DNA condensation), proteins (protein-protein interactions, protein folding and molecular motors). Finally, I discuss applications of SME to the study of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of small systems and the experimental verification of fluctuation theorems. I conclude with a discussion of open questions and future perspectives.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-410588