Biosensing Based on Tethered Particle Motion

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Biosensing Based on Tethered Particle Motion Biosensing based on tethered particle motion Citation for published version (APA): Visser, E. W. A. (2017). Biosensing based on tethered particle motion. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. Document status and date: Published: 19/04/2017 Document Version: Publisher’s PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers) Please check the document version of this publication: • A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website. • The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review. • The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. If the publication is distributed under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license above, please follow below link for the End User Agreement: www.tue.nl/taverne Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at: [email protected] providing details and we will investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 Biosensing Based on Tethered Particle Motion PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr.ir. F.P.T. Baaijens, voor een commissie aangewezen door het College voor Promoties, in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 19 april 2016 om 16:00 uur door Emilius Willem Adriaan Visser geboren te Veghel Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotoren en de samenstelling van de promotiecommissie is als volgt: voorzitter: prof.dr.ir. G.M.W. Kroesen 1e promotor: prof.dr.ir. M.W.J. Prins copromotor(en): dr. L.J. van IJzendoorn leden: prof.dr.ir. G.J.L. Wuite (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) dr. L. Salomé (Institute of Pharmacology and Structural Biology, Toulouse) prof.dr. M. Merkx adviseur(s): dr.ir. J.B.A. van Zon (Philips Research) Het onderzoek of ontwerp dat in dit proefschrift wordt beschreven is uitgevoerd in overeenstemming met de TU/e Gedragscode Wetenschapsbeoefening. A catalogue record is available from the Eindhoven University of Technology Library ISBN: 978-90-386-4245-1 Druk: Ipskamp Printing Illustratie op de cover: ICMS Animation Studio Omslag ontwerp: Markéta Kurfürstová © Emiel Visser 2017 This work was partially conducted in the framework of the project NextDx, funded within the European Commission FP7 program Contents Contents Chapter 1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 History, development, and current state of tethered particle motion ................ 2 1.1.1. The origin of Tethered Particle Motion .................................................................. 2 1.1.2. Progress in methods, theory and analysis of TPM data .................................. 4 1.1.3. Application of TPM in molecular research ............................................................ 8 1.2 Challenges in single molecule research and diagnostics .......................................... 9 1.2.1. TPM for point-of-care biosensing applications ................................................... 9 1.2.2. Molecular patient monitoring .................................................................................. 13 1.3 Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2. Theory and basics of TPM .......................................................................... 17 2.1 Tracking the motion of particles ...................................................................................... 17 2.1.1. Observation of the particles ..................................................................................... 17 2.1.2. Particle localization from microscope images .................................................. 20 2.1.3. Imaging techniques ...................................................................................................... 22 2.2 Motion and motion patterns of tethered particles ................................................... 25 2.2.1. Quantification of motion pattern shape .............................................................. 25 2.2.2. Radial confinement parameter................................................................................ 27 2.2.3. Motion distribution plot ............................................................................................. 28 2.3 DNA as nature's information carrier and tether ....................................................... 30 2.3.1. Chemical structure of DNA ........................................................................................ 30 2.3.2. Physical properties of DNA ....................................................................................... 32 2.3.3. DNA flexibility and persistence length ................................................................ 33 2.4 Modeling flexible molecules ............................................................................................... 34 2.4.1. Ideal chain or the freely jointed chain ................................................................. 35 2.4.2. Kratky-Porod and the worm-like chain model................................................. 37 2.4.3. Extension of the worm like chain ........................................................................... 39 2.5 Simulation of motion patterns .......................................................................................... 40 2.5.1. Monte Carlo simulation of TPM .............................................................................. 40 2.5.2. Extension of the simulation method to more complex systems ............... 43 Chapter 3. Particle Motion Analysis Reveals Nanoscale Bond Characteristics and Enhances Dynamic Range for Biosensing ............................................................... 47 3.1 Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 47 3.2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 48 3.3 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 50 3.3.1. Sample preparation ...................................................................................................... 50 3.3.2. Particle Imaging and Tracking Algorithm .......................................................... 51 3.3.3. Monte Carlo Based TPM Simulations. .................................................................. 51 3.4 Results and discussion .......................................................................................................... 53 i Contents 3.5 Observed motion patterns .................................................................................................. 54 3.5.1. Circular symmetric motion patterns .................................................................... 55 3.5.2. Non-circular symmetric motion patterns ........................................................... 58 3.5.3. Application for target molecule quantification in diagnostic assays...... 60 3.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 65 Appendix .................................................................................................................................................... 66 A. Particle position tracking accuracy ................................................................................. 66 B. Quantification of DNA binding efficiency on the particles .................................... 67 C. Antibody and dsDNA concentration series .................................................................. 68 D. Dependence of motion distribution on DNA tether concentration ................... 70 E. Friction experienced by particles pinned to the surface by molecular bonds .. ......................................................................................................................................................... 72 F. Additional simulations of particle roughness ............................................................ 72 G. Model describing the tethering of particles to the surface by target molecules .............................................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • 844222-1.Pdf
    Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Unraveling single-bond kinetics in tethered particle motion experiments using molecular dynamics simulations Merkus, K.E. Award date: 2015 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain Eindhoven University of Technology Department of Applied Physics Theory of polymers and soft matter Unraveling single-bond kinetics in tethered particle motion experiments using molecular dynamics simulations K.E. Merkus July 2015 Under supervision of dr. C. Storm Abstract Tethered particle motion (TPM), the motion of a micro- or nanobead tethered to a substrate by a macromolecule, is widely studied to understand various properties related to the tether. However, we propose a whole new way of looking at TPM: TPM as a probe for secondary bonds.
    [Show full text]
  • Optical Methods to Study Protein-DNA Interactions in Vitro and in Living Cells at the Single-Molecule Level
    Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14, 3961-3992; doi:10.3390/ijms14023961 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Review Optical Methods to Study Protein-DNA Interactions in Vitro and in Living Cells at the Single-Molecule Level Carina Monico 1,*, Marco Capitanio 1,2, Gionata Belcastro 1, Francesco Vanzi 1,3 and Francesco S. Pavone 1,2,4,5 1 European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy, Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy; E-Mails: [email protected] (M.C.); [email protected] (G.B.); [email protected] (F.V.); [email protected] (F.S.P.) 2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy 3 Department of Evolutionary Biology “Leo Pardi”, University of Florence, Via Romana 17, 50125 Florence, Italy 4 National Institute of Optics–National Research Council, Largo Fermi 6, 50125 Florence, Italy 5 International Center of Computational Neurophotonics, Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +39-055-457-2475; Fax: +39-055-457-2451. Received: 15 December 2012; in revised form: 13 January 2013 / Accepted: 4 February 2013 / Published: 18 February 2013 Abstract: The maintenance of intact genetic information, as well as the deployment of transcription for specific sets of genes, critically rely on a family of proteins interacting with DNA and recognizing specific sequences or features. The mechanisms by which these proteins search for target DNA are the subject of intense investigations employing a variety of methods in biology.
    [Show full text]
  • Eindhoven University of Technology BACHELOR Assay Optimization for Single DNA Tethered Particle Motion Hoeven, F.J.P
    Eindhoven University of Technology BACHELOR Assay optimization for single DNA tethered particle motion Hoeven, F.J.P. Award date: 2014 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain Assay optimization for single DNA tethered particle motion Frank Hoeven MBx 2014-04 Supervisors: E.W.A. Visser and L.J. van IJzendoorn Eindhoven University of Technology Group Molecular Biosensors for Medical Diagnostics April-July 2014 TNO 3rd floor Abstract In this report research is described to investigate the possibility to apply Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) in an immunoassay. A magnetic particle binds a target molecule in a sandwich assay, where the magnetic particle and the target molecule bind via a biotin streptavidin bond and the target molecule binds to a surface with an antigen-antibody bond.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of DNA Looping Kinetics in Tethered Particle Motion Experiments the Fragile X Mental Retardation-1 (Fmr1) Gene
    418a Tuesday, February 5, 2013 to O1, O2, and O3 operators in the lac operon. Specifically, we demonstrated that the Brownian motion of beads tethered to a microscope cover slip. The Brow- LacI kept two supercoils within the 401 bp DNA-loop between O1 and O2 op- nian motion changes when a protein binds to and deforms the DNA ’leash’, for erators. Additionally, We carried out time course studies to determine the stabil- example in the formation of a DNA loop. A complicating factor in the interpre- ity of the topological barriers that are produced by the different LacI-operator tation of TPM data is that the number of observable states, corresponding to complexes. Our results showed that the stability of the topological barriers cor- different conformations of the DNA-protein complex, is often not known in ad- relates with the DNA-binding affinity of LacI to the different operators i.e., O1, vance. Moreover, conformational transitions that occur on time scales compa- O2, O3, and Os operators. Furthermore, we confirmed our previous observation rable to the diffusive motion of the bead are difficult to extract from the data. in which LacI is able to ‘‘keep’’ certain superhelical energy to stabilize LacI- We present an analysis method for TPM data that overcomes these limitations in lacO1 complexes. Our results can be explained by a model in which LacI be- existing approaches. Our method relies on variational Bayesian inference on a var- haves as a topological barrier in the lac operon to regulate the expression of lac- iantofthe Hidden Markov model.
    [Show full text]
  • Calibration of Tethered Particle Motion Experiments
    CALIBRATION OF TETHERED PARTICLE MOTION EXPERIMENTS LIN HAN∗, BERTRAND LUI∗†, SETH BLUMBERG∗‡, JOHN F. BEAUSANG§, PHILIP C. NELSON§ , AND ROB PHILLIPS∗¶ Abstract. The Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) method has been used to observe and characterize a variety of protein-DNA interactions including DNA looping and tran- scription. TPM experiments exploit the Brownian motion of a DNA-tethered bead to probe biologically relevant conformational changes of the tether. In these experiments, a change in the extent of the bead’s random motion is used as a reporter of the underlying macromolecular dynamics and is often deemed sufficient for TPM analysis. However, a complete understanding of how the motion depends on the physical properties of the tethered particle complex would permit more quantitative and accurate evaluation of TPM data. For instance, such understanding can help extract details about a looped complex geometry (or multiple coexisting geometries) from TPM data. To better char- acterize the measurement capabilities of TPM experiments involving DNA tethers, we have carried out a detailed calibration of TPM magnitude as a function of DNA length and particle size. We also explore how experimental parameters such as acquisition time and exposure time affect the apparent motion of the tethered particle. We vary the DNA length from 200 bp to 2.6 kbp and consider particle diameters of 200, 490 and 970 nm. We also present a systematic comparison between measured particle excursions and theoretical expectations, which helps clarify both the experiments and models of DNA conformation. Key words. Tethered particle; DNA; Brownian motion; calibration; single molecule AMS(MOS) subject classifications.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Probing a Label-Free Local Bend in Dna by Single
    PROBING A LABEL-FREE LOCAL BEND IN DNA BY SINGLE MOLECULE TETHERED PARTICLE MOTION 1,2,3,4,+ 3,4,+ 1,2 1,2 Annaël Brunet , Sébastien Chevalier , Nicolas Destainville , Manoel Manghi , Philippe Rousseau5,6, Maya Salhi5,6, Laurence Salomé3,4, Catherine Tardin3,4,*. 1 CNRS ; LPT (Laboratoire de Physique Théorique), UMR UPS-CNRS 5152, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France. 2 Université de Toulouse, UPS; LPT, F-31062 Toulouse, France 3 CNRS; IPBS (Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale), UMR UPS-CNRS 5089, 205 route de Narbonne, F-31077 Toulouse, France 4 Université de Toulouse, UPS ; IPBS , F-31077 Toulouse, France 5 CNRS ; LMGM (Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires), UMR CNRS-UPS 5100, 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse; France 6 Université de Toulouse ; UPS; LMGM; F-31062 Toulouse; France * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +33 561175468; Fax: +33 561175994; Email: [email protected] + The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, the first two authors should be regarded as joint First Authors. 1 ABSTRACT: Being capable of characterizing DNA local bending is essential to understand thoroughly many biological processes because they involve a local bending of the double helix axis, either intrinsic to the sequence or induced by the binding of proteins. Developing a method to measure DNA bend angles that does not perturb the conformation of the DNA itself or the DNA-protein complex is a challenging task. Here, we propose a joint theory-experiment high throughput approach to rigorously measure such bend angles using the Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) technique.
    [Show full text]
  • Quantitative Study of Polymer Conformation and Dynamics by Single-Particle Tracking
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector 1598 Biophysical Journal Volume 76 March 1999 1598–1605 Quantitative Study of Polymer Conformation and Dynamics by Single-Particle Tracking Hong Qian* and Elliot L. Elson# *Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, and #Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 USA ABSTRACT We present a new method for analyzing the dynamics of conformational fluctuations of individual flexible polymer molecules. In single-particle tracking (SPT), one end of the polymer molecule is tethered to an immobile substratum. A microsphere attached to the other end serves as an optical marker. The conformational fluctuations of the polymer molecule can be measured by optical microscopy via the motion of the microsphere. The bead-and-spring theory for polymer dynamics is further developed to account for the microsphere, and together the measurement and the theory yield quantitative information about molecular conformations and dynamics under nonperturbing conditions. Applying the method to mea- surements carried out on DNA molecules provides information complementary to recent studies of single DNA molecules under extensional force. Combining high precision measurements with the theoretical analysis presented here creates a powerful tool for studying conformational dynamics of biological and synthetic macromolecules at the single-molecule level. INTRODUCTION The theory of polymer dynamics is one of the most elegant molecule is anchored to a substratum. A microsphere bound and cogent subjects in macromolecular science (Doi and to the other end as an optical marker is tracked using Edwards, 1986).
    [Show full text]
  • Colloidal Particle Motion As a Diagnostic of DNA Conformational
    Colloidal particle motion as a diagnostic of DNA conformational transitions Philip C. Nelson Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 USA [email protected] voice: +1-215-898-7001; fax: +1-215-898-2010 November 20, 2018 Abstract Tethered particle motion is an experimental technique to monitor conformational changes in single moleculesof DNA in real time, by observingthe position fluctuations of a micrometer- size particle attached to the DNA. This article reviews some recent work on theoretical prob- lems inherent in the interpretation of TPM experiments, both in equilibrium and dynamical aspects. Keywords: Tethered motion; Hidden Markov; DNA conformation; DNA looping; single- arXiv:0710.1048v1 [q-bio.QM] 4 Oct 2007 particle tracking 1 Introduction Molecular biophysics attempts to explain life processes by understanding the behavior of individ- ual macromolecules. Broadly speaking, past work has relied on (a) traditional light microscopy, which can discern the actions of individual objects, in physiological conditions and in real time, but is limited to scales bigger than half a micrometer, (b) electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction, which resolve fractions of a nanometer but give little information about dynamics, and (c) elec- 1 trophysiology, which gives detailed dynamic information but with an indirect readout, applicable mainly to one class of molecular device. The recent rise of single molecule biophysics has comple- mented these approaches, in some ways combining their strengths. Working at the single molecule level allows us to see differences in behavior between different molecules, as well as making it possible to extract detailed kinetic information. Tethered particle motion (TPM) is an experimental technique to monitor conformational changes in single molecules of DNA in real time.
    [Show full text]
  • Enhanced Tethered-Particle Motion Analysis Reveals Viscous Effects
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Biophysical Journal Volume 106 January 2014 399–409 399 Enhanced Tethered-Particle Motion Analysis Reveals Viscous Effects Sandip Kumar,† Carlo Manzo,‡ Chiara Zurla,§ Suleyman Ucuncuoglu,‡ Laura Finzi,‡ and David Dunlap†* † ‡ § Department of Cell Biology and Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; and Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia ABSTRACT Tethered-particle motion experiments do not require expensive or technically complex hardware, and increasing numbers of researchers are adopting this methodology to investigate the topological effects of agents that act on the tethering polymer or the characteristics of the polymer itself. These investigations depend on accurate measurement and interpretation of changes in the effective length of the tethering polymer (often DNA). However, the bead size, tether length, and buffer affect the confined diffusion of the bead in this experimental system. To evaluate the effects of these factors, improved measurements to calibrate the two-dimensional range of motion (excursion) versus DNA length were carried out. Microspheres of 160 or 240 nm in radius were tethered by DNA molecules ranging from 225 to 3477 basepairs in length in aqueous buffers containing 100 mM potassium glutamate and 8 mM MgCl2 or 10 mM Tris-HCl and 200 mM KCl, with or without 0.5% Tween added to the buffer, and the motion was recorded. Different buffers altered the excursion of beads on identical DNA tethers. Buffer with only 10 mM NaCl and >5 mM magnesium greatly reduced excursion.
    [Show full text]
  • Tethered Particle Motion As a Diagnostic of DNA Tether Length
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Department of Physics Papers Department of Physics 8-2006 Tethered Particle Motion as a Diagnostic of DNA Tether Length Philip C. Nelson University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Chiara Zurla Doriano Brogioli John F. Beausang Laura Finzi See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/physics_papers Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation Nelson, P. C., Zurla, C., Brogioli, D., Beausang, J. F., Finzi, L., & Dunlap, D. (2006). Tethered Particle Motion as a Diagnostic of DNA Tether Length. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B, 110 (24), 17260-17267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp0630673 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/physics_papers/515 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Tethered Particle Motion as a Diagnostic of DNA Tether Length Abstract The tethered particle motion (TPM) technique involves an analysis of the Brownian motion of a bead tethered to a slide by a single DNA molecule. We describe an improved experimental protocol with which to form the tethers, an algorithm for analyzing bead motion visualized using differential interference contrast microscopy, and a physical model with which we have successfully simulated such DNA tethers. Both experiment and theory show that the statistics of the bead motion are quite different from those of a free semiflexible polymer. Our experimental data for chain extension versus tether length fit our model over a range of tether lengths from 109 to 3477 base pairs, using a value for the DNA persistence length that is consistent with those obtained under similar solution conditions by other methods.
    [Show full text]
  • 3D Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) Using Metallic Nano Particles
    3D3D TetheredTethered ParticleParticle MotionMotion (TPM)(TPM) usingusing metallicmetallic nananono particlesparticles MosheMoshe Lindner,Lindner, GuyGuy NirNir && YuvalYuval GariniGarini DepartmentDepartment ofof Physics,Physics, BarBar IlanIlan InstituteInstitute ofof NanotechnologyNanotechnology && AdvancedAdvanced MaterialsMaterials Introduction:Introduction: Protein-DNA and protein-RNA interactions are among the most interesting interactions that can be studied. These include mechanisms that are crucial for cellular activities, including DNA polymerases, packaging proteins (such as histones) etc. In order to understand those interactions properly, Single Molecule Detection methods should be used. Here we present an improvement to one of the common methods, Tethered Particle Motion (TPM), by applying it in three dimensions (3D). The method allows to track the studied molecule by following the position of it in 3D with high precision of few nanometers. Therefore, more biophysical information can be extracted. TetheredTethered ParticleParticle MotionMotion (TPM):(TPM): DataData analysis:analysis: A small bead is linked to one end of the sample molecule (DNA or RNA), while the other The distribution function of the bead position is the distribution of “random-walk”, and end is linked to the glass surface. The bead diffuses in a physiological solution, and its by fitting the measured data to the theoretical distribution function, the persistence position are detected by an optical microscope. length of the DNA is extracted. The finite exposure time of the camera implies an error By analyzing the statistics of r(t), one can find the molecule characteristics, such as (the variation of the measured data seemed narrower than the actual one). We persistence length and DNA spring constant. Measurements of the interacting system therefore use a correction function in order to calculate the persistence length.
    [Show full text]
  • DNA Motion Capture Reveals the Mechanical Properties of DNA at the Mesoscale
    2532 Biophysical Journal Volume 108 May 2015 2532–2540 Article DNA Motion Capture Reveals the Mechanical Properties of DNA at the Mesoscale Allen C. Price,1 Kevin R. Pilkiewicz,2 Thomas G. W. Graham,3,4 Dan Song,4,5 Joel D. Eaves,2,* and Joseph J. Loparo4,* 1Department of Chemistry and Physics, Emmanuel College, Boston, Massachusetts; 2Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado; 3Department of Systems Biology, 4Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and 5Harvard Biophysics Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts ABSTRACT Single-molecule studies probing the end-to-end extension of long DNAs have established that the mechanical properties of DNA are well described by a wormlike chain force law, a polymer model where persistence length is the only adjust- able parameter. We present a DNA motion-capture technique in which DNA molecules are labeled with fluorescent quantum dots at specific sites along the DNA contour and their positions are imaged. Tracking these positions in time allows us to char- acterize how segments within a long DNA are extended by flow and how fluctuations within the molecule are correlated. Utilizing a linear response theory of small fluctuations, we extract elastic forces for the different, ~2-mm-long segments along the DNA backbone. We find that the average force-extension behavior of the segments can be well described by a wormlike chain force law with an anomalously small persistence length. INTRODUCTION The mechanical properties of DNA play crucial roles in properties of DNA on length scales much longer than biological transactions and in nanoscale devices (1–3).
    [Show full text]