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.
j.yeh9 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…
j.yeh23 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…
j.yeh15 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.…
j.yeh24 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,…
j.yeh9 June 2021
In a recent article published in Nature Communications, Sanchez et al. successfully employed LUMICKS’ C-Trap® to discover new insights into the molecular dynamics of initial replisome formation. In a collaborative effort between Prof. Dekker (TU Delft) and Prof. Diffley (Francis Crick Institute) laboratories, the scientists uncovered that origin recognition complex…
j.yeh18 May 2021
A recent publication by Dai et al. in Nature Communications presents an optical tweezers-coupled Raman spectroscopy platform providing tuneable and reproducible surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements. By combining a Raman microscope with the dual-trap optical tweezers and microfluidic flow chamber of the m-Trap®, the scientists were able to characterize three…
j.yeh8 April 2021
In a recent review article in Immunology, Fakhr et al. presented the z-Movi® Cell Avidity Analyzer as a solution to characterize T-cell populations by measuring the binding strength between immune and cancer cells using non-invasive acoustic force. Binding events between a T-cell and its target cell determine the initiation of…
Adrià Ferragut26 March 2021
In a recent article published in Small Methods, researchers reveal a method that uniquely captures the early phase of oxidative stress response in macrophages. Employing the powerful combination of optical tweezers, confocal fluorescent microscopy, and microfluidics of the C-Trap®, they measured the real-time intracellular response of individual macrophages to a…
j.yeh11 March 2021
