Main description:

In Single Molecule Studies of Proteins, expert researchers discuss the successful application of single-molecule techniques to a wide range of biological events, such as the imaging and mapping of cell surface receptors, the analysis of the unfolding and folding pathways of single proteins, the analysis interaction forces between biomolecules, the study of enzyme catalysis or the visualization of molecular motors in action. The chapters are aimed at established investigators and post-doctoral researchers in the life sciences wanting to pursue research in the various areas in which single-molecule approaches are important; this volume also remains accessible to advanced graduate students seeking similar research goals.

Feature:

Explores sophisticated advances in powerful new analytical, computational, and imaging methods

Cover ways in which single-molecule methods can be applied to studying protein function

Lays the foundation for additional research to monitor processes within living cells at high resolution and define the complex networks of interactions which regulate cellular function

Back cover:

Single-molecule measurement techniques are providing fundamental information on the structure and function of biomolecules and are becoming an indispensable tool to understand how proteins work. During the last two decades, this field has grown at an almost exponential rate in terms of biological and biophysical applications. Single-molecule techniques have opened new fields of science that are at the crossroads of several disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry, material science and computer science. These methods are often the approach of choice to clarify and better understand the structure and function of single proteins. This volume consists of up-to-date and comprehensive reviews of important and timely applications of different biological problems tackled by single-molecule methods; it also covers basic principles of operation, experiment and theory.

In Single-molecule Studies of Proteins, expert researchers discuss the successful application of single-molecule techniques to a wide range of biological events, such as the imaging and mapping of cell surface receptors, the analysis of the unfolding and folding pathways of single proteins, the analysis interaction forces between biomolecules, the study of enzyme catalysis or the visualization of molecular motors in action. The chapters are aimed at established investigators and post-doctoral researchers in the life sciences wanting to pursue research in the various areas in which single-molecule approaches are important; this volume also remains accessible to advanced graduate students seeking similar research goals.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Nanomechanics of proteins, both folded and disordered 
Rubén Hervás, Albert Galera-Prat, Àngel Gómez-Sicilia, Fernando Losada-Urzáiz, María del Carmen Fernández, Débora Fernández-Bravo, Elena Santana, Clara Barrio-García, Carolina Melero & Mariano Carrión-Vázquez

Chapter 2: Force Spectroscopy and Recognition Imaging of Cells from the Immune System   
Bianca L Bozna
Memed Duman
Peter Hinterdorfer

Chapter 3: Catch bonds of integrin/ligand interactions 
Cheng Zhu
Wei Chen

Chapter 4: AFM visualization of protein-DNA interactions 
Yuri L Lyubchenko

Chapter 5: Nano-visualization of proteins in action using high-speed AFM 
Takayuki Uchihashi
Noriyuki Kodera
Toshio Ando

Chapter 6: Enzyme catalysis at the single-molecule level 
Raul Perez Jimenez
Jorge Alegre-Cebollada

Chapter 7: Single-molecule studies of amyloidogenic proteins 
Miklós S.Z. Kellermayer
Árpád Karsai
Ünige Murvai
Szilvia Erdélyi-Bótor
József Kardos
Ricardo H. Pires

Chapter 8: Stretching and Imaging Individual Proteins on Live Cells using Atomic Force Microscopy 
David Alsteens
Yves Dufrêne

Chapter 9: Individual proteins under mechanical stress: Lessons from theory and computer simulations 
Dmitrii E Makarov