English

Simulation-based inference of single-molecule experiments

Chemical Physics 2024-10-22 v1 Biomolecules

Abstract

Single-molecule experiments are a unique tool to characterize the structural dynamics of biomolecules. However, reconstructing molecular details from noisy single-molecule data is challenging. Simulation-based inference (SBI) integrates statistical inference, physics-based simulators, and machine learning and is emerging as a powerful framework for analysing complex experimental data. Recent advances in deep learning have accelerated the development of new SBI methods, enabling the application of Bayesian inference to an ever-increasing number of scientific problems. Here, we review the nascent application of SBI to the analysis of single-molecule experiments. We introduce parametric Bayesian inference and discuss its limitations. We then overview emerging deep-learning-based SBI methods to perform Bayesian inference for complex models encoded in computer simulators. We illustrate the first applications of SBI to single-molecule force-spectroscopy and cryo-electron microscopy experiments. SBI allows us to leverage powerful computer algorithms modeling complex biomolecular phenomena to connect scientific models and experiments in a principled way.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2410.15896,
  title  = {Simulation-based inference of single-molecule experiments},
  author = {Lars Dingeldein and Pilar Cossio and Roberto Covino},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.15896},
  year   = {2024}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-28T19:29:31.149Z