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Versatile Quadruple-Trap Optical Tweezers for Dual DNA Experiments

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Optical Tweezers

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1486))

Abstract

Optical manipulation techniques provide researchers the powerful ability to directly move, probe and interrogate molecular complexes. Quadruple optical trapping is an emerging method for optical manipulation and force spectroscopy that has found its primary use in studying dual DNA interactions, but is certainly not limited to DNA investigations. The key benefit of quadruple optical trapping is that two molecular strands can be manipulated independently and simultaneously. The molecular geometries of the strands can thus be controlled and their interactions can be quantified by force measurements. Accurate control of molecular geometry is of critical importance for the analysis of, for example, protein-mediated DNA-bridging, which plays an important role in DNA compaction. Here, we describe the design of a dedicated and robust quadruple optical trapping-instrument. This instrument can be switched straightforwardly to a high-resolution dual trap and it is integrated with microfluidics and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, making it a highly versatile tool for correlative single-molecule analysis of a wide range of biomolecular systems.

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Competing Interest Statement

The described technology is licensed to LUMICKS B.V., in which IH, GJLW, and EJGP declare a financial interest. NL, DV, ODB, ASB, GAK, and IB declare no competing financial interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy and LaserLab, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Iddo Heller, Niels Laurens, Daan Vorselen, Onno D. Broekmans, Andreas S. Biebricher, Graeme A. King, Ineke Brouwer, Gijs J. L. Wuite & Erwin J. G. Peterman

Authors
  1. Iddo Heller
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  2. Niels Laurens
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  3. Daan Vorselen
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  4. Onno D. Broekmans
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  5. Andreas S. Biebricher
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  6. Graeme A. King
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  7. Ineke Brouwer
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  8. Gijs J. L. Wuite
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  9. Erwin J. G. Peterman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erwin J. G. Peterman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology & Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Arne Gennerich

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Heller, I. et al. (2017). Versatile Quadruple-Trap Optical Tweezers for Dual DNA Experiments. In: Gennerich, A. (eds) Optical Tweezers. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1486. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6421-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6421-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-6419-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-6421-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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