DNA curtain – a novel single-molecule technique to study detailed mechanisms underlying biological reactions

Abstract

Technical advance enables us to investigate the veiled details of biological reactions at the molecular level. The recent advent of single-molecule spectroscopy facilitates inspecting how biomolecules are interacting with others in more detail. To date many single-molecule techniques have been developed and highly applied to plenty of biological studies. Here I introduce a novel single-molecule technique called DNA curtain, which is a hybrid system combining nano-technique and fluorescence microscopy. This technique provides a unique platform to directly visualize individual proteins working on a single DNA molecule in real time. Using the DNA curtain, the behavior of various proteins on a single dsDNA molecule can be investigated and characterized. The movement of proteins on DNA provides comprehensive insight into how proteins can find its target site under the crowded environments of DNA inside cells.