Chaperone-Assisted Host–Guest Interactions Revealed by Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy

Probing protein-chaperone interactions with single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy.

Single-molecule force spectroscopy of mycobacterial adhesin-adhesin interactions.

The heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA) is one of the few virulence factors identified for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is a surface-associated adhesin that expresses a number of different activities, including mycobacterial adhesion to nonphagocytic cells and microbial aggregation. Previous evidence indicated that HBHA is likely to form homodimers or homopolymers via a predicted coiled-coil...

Single-molecule force spectroscopy of protein-membrane interactions

Many biological processes rely on protein-membrane interactions in the presence of mechanical forces, yet high resolution methods to quantify such interactions are lacking. Here, we describe a single-molecule force spectroscopy approach to quantify membrane binding of C2 domains in Synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1) and Extended Synaptotagmin-2 (E-Syt2). Syts and E-Syts bind the plasma membrane via multipl...

Single Molecule Probing of Exocytotic Protein Interactions Using Force Spectroscopy.

Relatively recently, the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) emerged as a powerful tool for single molecule nanomechanical investigations. Parameters that can be measured by force spectroscopy using AFM, such as the force and total mechanical extension required to break bonds between various proteins can yield valuable insights into the nature of the bond (zippering vs. highly localized binding site)...

Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy on Polysaccharides by Atomic Force Microscopy

Recent developments in piconewton instrumentation allow the manipulation of single molecules and measurements of intermolecular as well as intramolecular forces. Dextran filaments linked to a gold surface were probed with the atomic force microscope tip by vertical stretching. At low forces the deformation of dextran was found to be dominated by entropic forces and can be described by the Lange...