Single molecule techniques, including single molecule fluorescence, optical tweezers, and scanning probe microscopy, allow for the manipulation and measurement of single biological molecules within a live cell or in culture. These approaches, amongst the most exciting tools available in biology today, offer powerful new ways to elucidate biological function, both in terms of revealing mechanisms of action on a molecular level as well as tracking the behaviour of molecules in living cells. This book provides the first complete and authoritative treatment of this rapidly emerging field, explicitly from a biological perspective.
The contents are organized by biological system or molecule. Each chapter discusses insights that have been revealed about their mechanism, structure or function by single molecule techniques. Among the topics covered are enzymes, motor proteins, membrane channels, DNA, ribozymes, cytoskeletal proteins, and other key molecules of current interest. An introduction by the editor provides a concise review of key principles and an historical overview. The last section discusses applications in molecular diagnostics and drug discovery.
Chapter 1 Single Molecule Studies of Myosins
Chapter 2 Single Molecule Experiments and the Kinesin Motoe Protein Superfamily: Walking Hand in Hand
Chapter 3 Force-Generating Mechanisms of Dynein Revealed through Single molecule Students
Chapter 4 The Bacterial Flagellar Motor
Chapter 5 Single Molecule Studies of Chromatin Structure and Dynamics
Chapter 6 Single Molecule Studies of Nucleic
Chapter 7 Single Molecule Studies of Prokaryotic Translation
Chapter 8 Single Ion Channels
Chapter 9 Single Molecule Fluorescence in Membrane Biology
Chapter 10 Single Molecule Microarray Analysis