C-Trap^® SR installed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

A new C-Trap^® SR was installed at the National Institutes of Health, Maryland, USA, in the labs of Prof. Antonina Roll-Mecak and Prof. Keir Neuman. The LUMICKS optical tweezers-STED nanoscopy system allows the user to visualize molecular interactions with super-resolution microscopy.

The highly interdisciplinary group of Prof. Roll-Mecak works on unraveling the chemical and genetic complexity of the microtubule cytoskeleton, or “the tubulin code”. The C-Trap SR contributes to the investigation of this complex network by directly measuring the mechanical properties of the polymers, correlating these properties with local structural information, and visualizing the effect of modification enzymes. Prof. Roll-Mecak summarizes this as

“The C-Trap will allow my lab to look at how force induced deformations to the microtubule lattice affect the activity of microtubule associated proteins.”

Prof. Neuman’s group studies enzymes using single-molecule instrumentation. The researchers are currently using the C-Trap SR for a variety of assays such as the visualization of individual enzymes on densely covered DNA. Prof. Neuman refers to the system with

“By allowing us to manipulate the topology of DNA molecules while simultaneously imaging the DNA and DNA binding proteins with high spatial and temporal resolution, the C-Trap will open up exciting new avenues of research in the Neuman lab.”

LUMICKS wishes the groups of Prof. Roll-Mecak and Prof. Neuman continued success with their research!

Do you also have a research question where the C-Trap^® might help? Download the brochure, meet our application scientists at one of the conferences we are attending or contact us for a demo or a quote.