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Light-Responsive Polymer Particles as Force Clamps for the Mechanical Unfolding of Target Molecules
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posted on 2018-03-28, 13:19 authored by Hanquan Su, Zheng Liu, Yang Liu, Victor Pui-Yan Ma, Aaron Blanchard, Jing Zhao, Kornelia Galior, R. Brian Dyer, Khalid SalaitaSingle-molecule force spectroscopy
techniques are powerful tools for
investigating the mechanical unfolding of biomolecules. However, they
are limited in throughput and require dedicated instrumentation. Here,
we report a force-generating particle that can unfold target molecules
on-demand. The particle consists of a plasmonic nanorod core encapsulated
with a thermoresponsive polymer shell. Optical heating of the nanorod
leads to rapid collapse of the polymer, thus transducing light into
mechanical work to unfold target molecules. The illumination tunes
the duration and degree of particle collapse, thus controlling the lifetime and magnitude of applied forces. Single-molecule fluorescence
imaging showed reproducible mechanical unfolding of DNA hairpins.
We also demonstrate the triggering of 50 different particles in <1
min, exceeding the speed of conventional atomic force microscopy.
The polymer force clamp represents a facile and bottom-up approach
to force manipulation.
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Force ClampsTarget Molecules Single-molecule force spectroscopy techniquesparticle collapseforce-generating particletransducing lighttarget moleculesillumination tunestarget molecules on-demandforce manipulationbottom-up approachplasmonic nanorod core encapsulatedMechanical Unfoldingforce microscopySingle-molecule fluorescence imagingLight-Responsive Polymer ParticlesDNA hairpinspolymer forceOptical heatingthermoresponsive polymer shell
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