Seog Joonil
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Fischell Bioengineering Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2012;757:139-55. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-166-6_11.
Single molecule techniques are used to characterize the biophysical properties of individual molecules in a mechanically well-controlled environment. The information obtained from direct force measurements can provide the dynamic adhesion forces of cell adhesion molecules, which may shed insights on molecular mechanisms of cellular adhesion. In addition, single-molecule techniques enable us to observe the detailed distributions of individual molecular behaviors that cannot be readily obtained from ensemble measurements. In this chapter, the protocols of using atomic force microscopy and optical tweezers to study cell adhesion molecules are presented.
单分子技术用于在机械控制良好的环境中表征单个分子的生物物理特性。从直接力测量中获得的信息可以提供细胞粘附分子的动态粘附力，这可能有助于深入了解细胞粘附的分子机制。此外，单分子技术使我们能够观察到单个分子行为的详细分布，而这些分布是无法从整体测量中轻易获得的。在本章中，将介绍使用原子力显微镜和光镊研究细胞粘附分子的实验方案。
