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Nanomanipulation of Biological Macromolecules by AFM

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Abstract

AFM-based nanomanipulation has been used to study every type of biological macromolecules and revealed important, previously unknown properties and functional mechanisms. The capacity of the AFM for the isolation, transfer, positioning and assembling of individual macromolecules with nanometer spatial resolutions has significantly advanced the field of bionanotechnology toward the fabrication of functional structures and devices with macromolecules as building blocks. This review focuses on the studies of proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides using AFM-based nanomanipulation technique. An introduction to the principles of the technique is followed by reviewing the types of problems investigated, with emphasis on the capacities of the technique to reveal novel structural and functional mechanisms of biological macromolecules.

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Abbreviations

AFM:

Atomic force microscope

Dopa:

3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine

dsDNA:

Double stranded DNA

DTT:

Dithiothreitol

FJC:

Freely-joint chain

FRET:

Förster resonance energy transfer

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

SPM:

Scanning probe microscope

ssDNA:

Single stranded DNA

STM:

Scanning tunneling microscope

TIRF:

Total internal reflection fluorescence

TMV:

Tobacco mosaic virus

WLC:

Worm-like chain

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The author thanks the NIH for financial support.

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  1. Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Guoliang Yang

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  1. Dept. Mechanical &, Aerospace Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Ampere A. Tseng

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Yang, G. (2011). Nanomanipulation of Biological Macromolecules by AFM. In: Tseng, A. (eds) Tip-Based Nanofabrication. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9899-6_4

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