Nanomechanics of Streptavidin Hubs for Molecular Materials

A new strategy is reported for creating protein-based nanomaterials by genetically fusing large polypeptides to monomeric streptavidin and exploiting the propensity of streptavidin monomers(SM) to self-assemble into stable tetramers. We have characterized the mechanical properties of streptavidin-linked structures and measured, for the first time, the mechanical strength of streptavidin tetramers themselves. Using streptavidin tetramers as molecular hubs offers a unique opportunity to create a variety of well-defined, self-assembled protein-based (nano) materials with unusual mechanical properties

Reversible stretching of homopolymers and random heteropolymers

We have analyzed the equilibrium response of chain molecules to stretching. For a homogeneous sequence of monomers, the induced transition from compact globule to extended coil below the $\theta$-temperature is predicted to be sharp. For random sequences, however, the transition may be smoothed by a prevalence of necklace-like structures, in which globular regions and coil regions coexist in a single chain. As we show in the context of a random copolymer, preferential solvation of one monomer type lends stability to such structures. The range of stretching forces over which necklaces are stable is sensitive to chain length as well as sequence statistics.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Stretching single polysaccharides and proteins using atomic force microscopy

The past years have witnessed remarkable advances in our use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for stretching single biomolecules, thereby contributing to answering many outstanding questions in biophysics and chemical biology. In these single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) experiments, the AFM tip is continuously approached to and retracted from the biological sample, while monitoring the interaction force. The obtained force-extension curves provide key insight into the molecular elasticity and localization of single molecules, either on isolated systems or on cellular surfaces. In this tutorial review, we describe the principle of such SMFS experiments, and we survey remarkable breakthroughs made in manipulating single polysaccharides and proteins, including understanding the conformational properties of sugars and controlling them by force, measuring the molecular elasticity of mechanical proteins, unfolding and refolding individual proteins, probing protein-ligand interactions, and tuning enzymatic reactions by force. In addition, we show how SMFS with AFM tips bearing specific bioligands has enabled researchers to stretch and localize single molecules on live cells, in relation with cellular functions. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Can Dissipative Properties of Single Molecules Be Extracted from a Force Spectroscopy Experiment?

We performed dynamic force spectroscopy of single dextran and titin I27 molecules using small-amplitude and low-frequency (40-240 Hz) dithering of an atomic force microscope tip excited by a sine wave voltage fed onto the tip-carrying piezo. We show that for such low-frequency dithering experiments, recorded phase information can be unambiguously interpreted within the framework of a transparent theoretical model that starts from a well-known partial differential equation to describe the dithering of an atomic force microscope cantilever and a single molecule attached to its end system, uses an appropriate set of initial and boundary conditions, and does not exploit any implicit suggestions. We conclude that the observed phase (dissipation) signal is due completely to the dissipation related to the dithering of the cantilever itself (i.e., to the change of boundary conditions in the course of stretching). For both cases, only the upper bound of the dissipation of a single molecule has been established as not exceeding 3⋅10(-7)kg/s. We compare our results with previously reported measurements of the viscoelastic properties of single molecules, and we emphasize that extreme caution must be taken in distinguishing between the dissipation related to the stretched molecule and the dissipation that originates from the viscous damping of the dithered cantilever. We also present the results of an amplitude channel data analysis, which reveal that the typical values of the spring constant of a I27 molecule at the moment of module unfolding are equal to 4±1.5mN/m, and the typical values of the spring constant of dextran at the moment of chair-boat transition are equal to 30-50mN/m