Related papers: On the influence of device handle in single-molecu…
Single-molecule stretching experiments on DNA, RNA, and other biological macromolecules opened up the possibility of an impressive progress in many fields of Life and Medical sciences. The reliability of such experiments may be crucially…
Precise manipulation of single molecules has already led to remarkable insights in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. However, widespread adoption of single-molecule techniques has been impeded by equipment cost and the laborious…
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…
Single-molecule stretching experiments are widely utilized within the fields of physics and chemistry to characterize the mechanics of individual bonds or molecules, as well as chemical reactions. Analytic relations describing these…
The tethered-particle method is a single-molecule technique that has been used to explore the dynamics of a variety of macromolecules of biological interest. We give a theoretical analysis of the particle motions in such experiments. Our…
Single-molecule pulling techniques have emerged as versatile tools for probing the noncovalent forces holding together the secondary and tertiary structure of macromolecules. They also constitute a way to study at the single-molecule level…
Single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments, as well as a number of other physical systems, are governed by thermally activated transitions out of a metastable state under the action of a steadily increasing external force. The main…
Single-molecule force spectroscopy (smFS) is a powerful approach to studying molecular self-organization. However, the coupling of the molecule with the ever-present experimental device introduces artifacts, that complicates the…
Single-molecule mechanical manipulation has enabled the quantitative understanding of the kinetics of bond ruptures as well as protein unfolding mechanism. Single-molecule experiments with theoretical models have allowed one to gain insight…
Heterogeneity in biological molecules, resulting in molecule-to-molecule variations in their dynamics and function, is an emerging theme. To elucidate the consequences of heterogeneous behavior at the single molecule level, we propose an…
The incredible thermo-mechanical properties of biological materials arise from the microscopic scale due to a complex hierarchical mechanism, regulated by microinstabilities at the molecular level. The description of such complex structures…
Single-molecule experiments with optical tweezers have become an important tool to study the properties and mechanisms of biological systems, such as cells and nucleic acids. In particular, force unzipping experiments have been used to…
The forced rupture of single chemical bonds under external load is addressed. A general framework is put forward to optimally utilize the experimentally observed rupture force data for estimating the parameters of a theoretical model. As an…
We show how one can measure the signal from slow jumps of a single molecule between metastable positions using a setup where the molecule is fixed to one lead, and one of the coupling strengths is controlled externally. Such a measurement…
Accurate assessment of stiffness distribution is essential due to the critical role of single cell mechanobiology in the regulation of many vital cellular processes such as proliferation, adhesion, migration, and motility. Cell stiffness is…
We present a statistical mechanics analysis of the finite-size elasticity of biopolymers, consisting of domains which can exhibit transitions between more than one stable state at large applied force. The constant-force (Gibbs) and…
One of the most intriguing results of single molecule experiments on proteins and nucleic acids is the discovery of functional heterogeneity: the observation that complex cellular machines exhibit multiple, biologically active…
Tethered particle motion experiments are versatile single-molecule techniques enabling one to address in vitro the molecular properties of DNA and its interactions with various partners involved in genetic regulations. These techniques…
In recent years single molecule force spectroscopy has opened a new avenue to provide profiles of the complex energy landscape of biomolecules. In this field, quantitative analyses of the data employing sound theoretical models, have played…
Diffraction experiments have moved to ever heavier objects in recent years, now standing at the level of large molecules. Experiments in materials science on the other hand have come down to ever smaller sizes largely due to the success of…