Single-molecule studies of biomolecular function

Back to The Sixth q-bio Conference.

Peter Goodwin and Jaemyeong Jung

Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Modern molecular biophysics holds great promise for life science research. To date, due in large part to limitations of the conventional analysis methods used for biological studies, there are still many challenges for the questions of functional genomics and proteomics at various levels of complexity. Novel approaches to structural and dynamic function in biomolecular systems at a higher resolution provide otherwise inaccessible information on the fundamental processes. Recently single-molecule techniques have been proved as a powerful tool to interrogate molecules one at a time, and therefore, to capture elusive intermediates and elucidate molecular mechanisms in vitro and in vivo. Complementing conventional efforts, the single-molecule approaches are overcoming many technical challenges facing contemporary biology. In this tutorial, single-molecule approaches toward the understanding of biomolecular mechanisms will be discussed, including SNARE-mediated synaptic vesicle fusion and the cellulase catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose.