Peptide Nucleic Acids as Tools for Single-Molecule Sequence Detection and Manipulation

Peptide nucleic acids as tools for single-molecule sequence detection and manipulation.

The ability to strongly and sequence-specifically attach modifications such as fluorophores and haptens to individual double-stranded (ds) DNA molecules is critical to a variety of single-molecule experiments. We propose using modified peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) for this purpose and implement them in two model single-molecule experiments where individual DNA molecules are manipulated via micr...

Single-molecule manipulation of nucleic acids.

During the past decade, local force measurement techniques, such as atomic force microscopy and optical tweezers, were used to study the elastic properties and mechanically induced structural transitions of nucleic acids at the single-molecule level. Single-molecule manipulation has also increasingly been used to investigate DNA-dependent enzymatic processes, with implications for unfolding and...

Locked nucleic acid oligomers as handles for single molecule manipulation

Single-molecule manipulation (SMM) techniques use applied force, and measured elastic response, to reveal microscopic physical parameters of individual biomolecules and details of biomolecular interactions. A major hurdle in the application of these techniques is the labeling method needed to immobilize biomolecules on solid supports. A simple, minimally-perturbative labeling strategy would sig...

Combining single-molecule manipulation and single-molecule detection.

Single molecule force manipulation combined with fluorescence techniques offers much promise in revealing mechanistic details of biomolecular machinery. Here, we review force-fluorescence microscopy, which combines the best features of manipulation and detection techniques. Three of the mainstay manipulation methods (optical traps, magnetic traps and atomic force microscopy) are discussed with ...

Single Molecule Detection, Analysis, and Manipulation