Communication

A Nanoscale Force Probe for Gauging Intermolecular Interactions†

  1. Dr. Minkyu Kim1,
  2. Dr. Chien-Chung Wang2,
  3. Fabrizio Benedetti3,
  4. Prof. Piotr E. Marszalek1,*

Article first published online: 17 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201107210

Issue

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Volume 51, Issue 8, pages 1903–1906, February 20, 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kim, M., Wang, C.-C., Benedetti, F. and Marszalek, P. E. (2012), A Nanoscale Force Probe for Gauging Intermolecular Interactions. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 51: 1903–1906. doi: 10.1002/anie.201107210

Author Information

  1. 1

    Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (USA)

  2. 2

    Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C)

  3. 3

    Laboratory of Physics of Living Matter, EPFL, Lausanne (Switzerland)

*Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708 (USA)

  1. †

    We are grateful to Prof. J. Clarke (University of Cambridge, UK) for providing the pAFM 1–8 plasmid. We also thank Dr. J. Kim, Dr. M. Rabbi, and Z. Scholl for their help with the manuscript. This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grant GM079563 and National Science Foundation grant MCB-1052208.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 14 FEB 2012
  2. Article first published online: 17 JAN 2012
  3. Manuscript Revised: 16 DEC 2011
  4. Manuscript Received: 12 OCT 2011

Funded by

  • National Institutes of Health. Grant Number: GM079563
  • National Science Foundation. Grant Number: MCB-1052208

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Keywords:

  • bond rupture measurements;
  • ligand–receptor interactions;
  • protein engineering;
  • protein–protein interactions;
  • single-molecule force spectroscopy
Thumbnail image of graphical abstract

Into low force regime: A universal molecular force probe for measuring by AFM the strength of receptor–ligand and protein–protein complexes was developed. The protein-based force probe has the sensitivity on the order of piconewtons and provides a single-molecule fingerprint for identifying mechanical rupture events of individual complexes (see picture).

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