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Inside the Small Length and Energy Scales of the World of the Individual Biological Molecule

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From Cells to Proteins: Imaging Nature across Dimensions

Part of the book series: NATO Security through Science Series ((NASTB))

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Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has proved to be an essential tool of structural biology, being able not only to image but also to manipulate single biological molecules. These techniques make it possible to investigate the nanometer scale structure of single biological macromolecules and to study how an external force drives single biological molecules towards nonequilibrium conformations, by stretching and breaking bonds and interactions. This chapter focuses on the capabilities of the AFM-based single molecule methodologies to bring us into the nanometer-scale world of the single DNA molecules and into the pico-Newton force-scales of the interactions that sustain the protein folding.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry “G.Moruzzi”, University of Bologna, Italy

    Massimo Sandal, Giampaolo Zuccheri & Bruno Samorì

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  1. Massimo Sandal
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  2. Giampaolo Zuccheri
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  1. CNR Institute of Biophysics, Pisa, Italy

    Valtere Evangelista , Laura Barsanti , Vincenzo Passarelli  & Paolo Gualtieri , ,  & 

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Sandal, M., Zuccheri, G., Samorì, B. (2005). Inside the Small Length and Energy Scales of the World of the Individual Biological Molecule. In: Evangelista, V., Barsanti, L., Passarelli, V., Gualtieri, P. (eds) From Cells to Proteins: Imaging Nature across Dimensions. NATO Security through Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3616-7_7

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