A recent study by Szu‐Ning Lin et al. for the first time provided direct information on the dynamics of the interaction between HU and DNA and how this interaction is influenced by ionic conditions and DNA conformation.
Nelli Bossert9 November 2021
A recent publication by Kucera et al. in Nature Communications combined TIRF assays and Optical Tweezers measurements to investigate myosin-independent actin contraction that is relevant during cytokinesis and cell division. The authors found a new mechanism showing how anillin, a non-motor actin crosslinking and scaffolding protein, substitutes for the activity…
Nelli Bossert23 August 2021
In a recent article published in Science Advances, researchers investigated the mechanical consequences of a missense mutation within a highly conserved region, P305L, in the kinesin motor family member A1 (KIF1A). By employing a single-molecule approach using the C-Trap® as well as biochemical and genetic assays, Lam et al. found…
Nelli Bossert15 July 2021
We’re overjoyed to announce the placement of one of our most sophisticated C-Trap® systems at the newly formed Center for Optical Bio-Manipulation (COBM) at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen! The center is based around LUMICKS' C-Trap system, flaunting quadruple optical tweezers, 3 color confocal fluorescence microscopy, and STED…
Ron Eliyahoo13 July 2021
We are delighted to announce two new C-Trap® installations in Europe, one at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) and the other at the University of Kent. At MPI-CBG, this will be the second C-Trap installed. The new system is configured with quadruple optical traps…
Ron Eliyahoo6 July 2021
A recent article published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters provides insight into the stability and folding dynamics of RNA G-quadruplexes (RG4). Using the C-Trap® optical tweezers, Ye et al. investigated the influence of a proximal single-stranded (ss) RNA sequence and found that its existence significantly impairs RG4 stability.…
Nelli Bossert24 June 2021
We are very pleased to announce two new C-Trap® installations in China, one at the Microscopy Core Facility at Westlake University and one at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Soochow University. We begin with the group of Dr. Huizhong Xu at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Soochow University. Their…
Ron Eliyahoo15 June 2021
In a recent publication by Keenen et al. in eLife, the authors uncover the biophysical properties of heterochromatin protein 1α (HP1α) and present a new model on how it mediates DNA condensation and phase separation. Employing a combination of ensemble and single-molecule assays, they found that within phase-separated HP1α-DNA condensates,…
Nelli Bossert9 June 2021
We are excited to announce the installation of a z-Movi® Cell Avidity Analyzer at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin! The z-Movi will be used by the research team led by Dr. Matthias Leisegang, Juniorprofessor at the Institute of Immunology. This unique instrument measures the interaction strength between target tumor cells and effector…
Erica Fong1 June 2021
