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Single-Molecule Measurements Using Acoustic Force Spectroscopy (AFS)

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Single Molecule Analysis

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1665))

Abstract

Single-molecule force spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate the forces and motions related to interactions of biological molecules. Acoustic Force Spectroscopy (AFS) is a recently developed measurement tool to study single molecules making use of acoustic standing waves. AFS permits high experimental throughput, because many individual molecules can be manipulated and tracked in parallel. Moreover, a wide range of forces can be applied, as well as a force loading rate with range of six orders of magnitude. At the same time, AFS stands out because of its simplicity and the compactness of the experimental setup. Even though the AFS setup is simple, it can still be challenging to perform high-quality measurements. Here we describe, in detail, how to setup, perform, and analyze an AFS measurement.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A.S. Biebricher, S.E.D. Haene, and S. Acar for biochemical help; F. Oswald and G. Sitters for collaborating and discussing results. We acknowledge support by NWO VICI as well as a European Research Council (ERC) starting grant (G.J.L.W.).

Competing financial interests

D.K. and G.J.L.W. are inventors on the patent application (PCT/NL2014/050377) covering the acoustic force spectroscopy method. G.J.L.W. is co-owner of LUMICKS B.V.

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Correspondence to Gijs J. L. Wuite .

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Kamsma, D., Wuite, G.J.L. (2018). Single-Molecule Measurements Using Acoustic Force Spectroscopy (AFS). In: Peterman, E. (eds) Single Molecule Analysis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1665. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7271-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7271-5_18

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7270-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7271-5

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