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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Nanomanipulation of Single RNA Molecules by Optical Tweezers
Published on: August 20, 2014
The effect of force on thermodynamics and kinetics: unfolding single RNA molecules
1Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1460, USA. intinoco@lbl.gov
Abstract:
We have used laser tweezers to unfold single RNA molecules at room temperature and in physiological-type solvents. The forces necessary to unfold the RNAs are over the range 10-20 pN, forces that can be generated by cellular enzymes. The Gibbs free energy for the unfolding of TAR (transactivation-responsive) RNA from HIV was found to be increased after the addition of argininamide; the TAR hairpin was stabilized. The rate of unfolding was decreased and the rate of folding was increased by argininamide.
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