Maier Berenike
Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 München, Germany.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2005 Jun;8(3):344-9. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2005.04.002.
Dynamic properties of type IV pili are essential for their function in bacterial infection, twitching motility and gene transfer. Laser tweezers are versatile tools to study the molecular mechanism underlying pilus dynamics at the single molecule level. Recently, these optical tweezers have been used to monitor pilus elongation and retraction in vivo at a resolution of several nanometers. The force generated by type IV pili exceeds 100 pN making pili the strongest linear motors characterized to date. The study of pilus dynamics at the single molecule level sheds light on kinetics, force generation, switching and mechanics of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilus motor.
IV型菌毛的动态特性对于其在细菌感染、颤动运动和基因转移中的功能至关重要。激光镊子是在单分子水平研究菌毛动力学潜在分子机制的通用工具。最近，这些光镊已被用于在体内以几纳米的分辨率监测菌毛的伸长和收缩。IV型菌毛产生的力超过100皮牛，使菌毛成为迄今为止所表征的最强线性马达。在单分子水平上对菌毛动力学的研究揭示了淋病奈瑟菌菌毛马达的动力学、力产生、转换和力学机制。
