Applications in Life Science of Single-molecule Optical Tweezers

Abstract: Optical tweezers are an emerging optical technology with high-resolution for investigating realtime dynamics of macromolecules and complexes at single-molecule levels. With a sub millisecond time response， it is utilized to determine the intermediate states and folding rates. Optical tweezers are very sensitive for a force change in response of end-to-end length change of a molecule. Therefore it can accurately provide the information for mechanical forces， conformational changes and energy， which are the key information for kinetic studies.Furthermore， unlike the conventional structural biology methods， optical tweezers experiments are performed in a physiological condition. With all these advantages， optical tweezers became an irreplaceable biophysical method for studying dynamic biological processes. In this review， we mainly focus on the basic principles of optical tweezers and their applications especially in protein folding， chromatin remodeling and other molecular motors. We also briefly discuss the future developments of this technology.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2015.10.0001