Subangstrom single-molecule measurements of motor proteins using a nanopore.

Derrington, Ian M; Craig, Jonathan M; Stava, Eric; Laszlo, Andrew H; Ross, Brian C; Brinkerhoff, Henry; Nova, Ian C; Doering, Kenji et al. · Nat Biotechnol · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Techniques for measuring the motion of single motor proteins, such as FRET and optical tweezers, are limited to a resolution of ∼300 pm. We use ion current modulation through the protein nanopore MspA to observe translocation of helicase Hel308 on DNA with up to ∼40 pm sensitivity. This approach should be applicable to any protein that translocates on DNA or RNA, including helicases, polymerases, recombinases and DNA repair enzymes.

Medical subject headings