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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Combining Single-molecule Manipulation and Imaging for the Study of Protein-DNA Interactions
Published on: August 27, 2014
Electrons, photons, and force: quantitative single-molecule measurements from physics to biology
Shelley A Claridge1, Jeffrey J Schwartz, Paul S Weiss
1California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-7227, USA.
Abstract:
Single-molecule measurement techniques have illuminated unprecedented details of chemical behavior, including observations of the motion of a single molecule on a surface, and even the vibration of a single bond within a molecule. Such measurements are critical to our understanding of entities ranging from single atoms to the most complex protein assemblies. We provide an overview of the strikingly diverse classes of measurements that can be used to quantify single-molecule properties, including those of single macromolecules and single molecular assemblies, and discuss the quantitative insights they provide. Examples are drawn from across the single-molecule literature, ranging from ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy studies of adsorbate diffusion on surfaces to fluorescence studies of protein conformational changes in solution.
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