Publication

Blog posts

Force-dependent actin filament-binding by α-catenin recorded with the C-Trap^®

A recent publication in the journal eLife describes a multidisciplinary study evaluating how the mechanical properties of actin filaments regulate the binding of associated proteins. Specifically, the researchers used the C-Trap® to demonstrate how applied forces on actin filaments enhance binding of cell–cell adhesion protein α-catenin, but not its homolog…

j.yeh15 October 2020

Blog posts

Researchers use the m-Trap^® and C-Trap^® to discover CRISPR-Cas9 properties that can help improve in vivo efficiency

A recent publication from the research lab of Dr. Bo Sun presents new findings in the field of gene editing that may help improve in vivo delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 complexes. The team investigated the DNA-binding properties of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9), a smaller orthologue to the commonly used Streptococcus pyogenes…

j.yeh10 September 2020

Blog posts

Researchers investigate the effects of biomolecular droplet structure on fusion times using the C-Trap^®

In a recent publication, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago used the C-Trap® to study the relationship between structural properties of biomolecular condensates and their fusion times. They found that fusion times, an indicator of condensate density, varies depending on their structural organization. The findings highlight how physical…

j.yeh27 August 2020

Blog posts

Electrostatic effects on vimentin stiffness demonstrated with the C-Trap^®

A recently published study from the lab of Prof. Sarah Köster at the University of Göttingen investigated how electrostatic conditions influence the mechanical properties of intermediate filament vimentin, such as structural stability. The researchers assessed these features by stretching the protein in different buffer conditions, using the C-Trap® with correlated optical…

j.yeh6 August 2020

Blog posts

Cell avidity is a superior predictor of CAR T-cell efficacy in myeloma than cytotoxicity – first published z-Movi^® results

We are proud to announce the first publication showing results from cell–cell interaction measurements using the z-Movi® Cell Avidity Analyzer! In the study, Fernández de Larrea et al. demonstrate how cell avidity between CAR T cells and target multiple myeloma cell lines correlated with in vivo results. Notably, the cell…

j.yeh29 July 2020

Blog posts

In vitro characterization of nucleosomes upon DNA unwrapping using the C-Trap^®

A recent publication in the journal Scientific Reports describes a new method to create arrays of nucleosome positioning motifs. Through sequential Gibson Assembly reactions, the researchers managed to clone a series of sequence motifs, with high affinity for histone octamers, into one DNA molecule. The approach is ideal to start…

j.yeh16 July 2020

Blog posts

Vesicle-like RNA–protein condensates characterized by the C-Trap^®

We were happy to find yet another publication from the lab of Dr. Priya Banerjee with results from C-Trap® analyses! This time his lab examined the formation and features of vesicle-like RNA–protein structures, which differ from the more known uniform droplets. Apart from offering new insights to an emerging field,…

j.yeh9 July 2020

Blog posts

Exploring mitochondrial translation processes with the C-Trap^®

This month, we find the C-Trap® featured in Nature Communications in an article published by the lab of Dr. Joanna Rorbach in which they describe mitochondrial translation initiation. The study provides insight into a relatively unexplored, yet exciting field that investigates the properties of mitochondrial ribosomes (mitoribosomes) during translation. Understanding…

j.yeh25 June 2020

Blog posts

Recent review highlights the impact of force spectroscopy and the C-Trap^®

We were happy to read last week that LUMICKS was recognized for our efforts in the field of dynamic single-molecule research! A recent review in ACS Publications examined the current advances in single-molecule research, highlighting the impact of force spectroscopy techniques to biology, including optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers, and atomic…

j.yeh21 May 2020

Blog posts

Single-molecule measurements with AFS® and optical tweezers reveal progressive assembly of viruses

The research lab of Dr. Gijs Wuite in the Netherlands recently published a single-molecule study in Science Advances, demonstrating the progressive self-assembly steps of viruses. Methods, such as optical tweezers and acoustic force spectroscopy (AFS®), enabled the researchers to study the transient and otherwise hard-to-verify steps associated with viral assembly.…

j.yeh14 May 2020

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