相关论文: Unveiling the influence of device stiffness in sin…
We deduce a fully analytical model to predict the artifacts of the measuring device handles in Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy experiments. As we show, neglecting the effects of the handle stiffness can lead to crucial overestimation or…
We review statistical-mechanical theories of single-molecule micromanipulation experiments on nucleic acids. First, models for describing polymer elasticity are introduced. We then review how these models are used to interpret…
Single molecule DNA experiments often generate data from force versus extension measurements involving the tethering of a microsphere to one end of a single DNA molecule while the other is attached to a substrate. We show that the…
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 quite recent technological rise in molecular biology allowed single molecule manipulation experiments, where molecule stretching plays a primary role. In order to understand the experimental data, it is felt the urge of some physical…
We propose a simple approach, based on the minimization of the total (entropic plus unfolding) energy of a two-state system, describing the stretch-induced unfolding of macromolecules (proteins, silks, nanopolymers, DNA/RNA). The model is…
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…
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…
The mechanical properties of molecules are today captured by single molecule manipulation experiments, so that polymer features are tested at a nanometric scale. Yet devising mathematical models to get further insight beyond the commonly…
Single molecule force spectroscopy reveals unfolding of domains in titin upon stretching. We provide a theoretical framework for these experiments by computing the phase diagrams for force-induced unfolding of single domain proteins using…
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…
In recent years molecular elasticity has emerged as an active area of research: there are experiments that probe mechanical properties of single biomolecules such as DNA and Actin, with a view to understanding the role of elasticity of…
We present a statistical mechanical study of stiff polymers, motivated by experiments on actin filaments and the considerable current interest in polymer networks. We obtain simple, approximate analytical forms for the force-extension…
Atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are ubiquitous in research laboratories and have recently been priced for use in teaching laboratories. Here we review several AFM platforms (Dimension 3000 by Digital Instruments, EasyScan2 by Nanosurf,…
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…
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…
We study theoretically the denaturation of single RNA molecules by mechanical stretching, focusing on signatures of the (un)folding pathway in molecular fluctuations. Our model describes the interactions between nucleotides by incorporating…
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…
We use an elastic rod model with contact to study the extension versus rotation diagrams of single supercoiled DNA molecules. We reproduce quantitatively the supercoiling response of overtwisted DNA and, using experimental data, we get an…
Single-filament tracing has been a valuable tool to directly determine geometrical and mechanical properties of entangled polymer networks. However, systematically verifying how the stiffness of the tracer filament or its molecular…