Fully automated single-molecule force spectroscopy for screening applications
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Updated: May 30, 2026
Force Spectroscopy of Single Protein Molecules Using an Atomic Force Microscope
Published on: February 28, 2019
Jens Struckmeier1, Reiner Wahl, Mirko Leuschner
1Cellular Machines, Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47, D-01307 Dresden, Germany. nAmbition GmbH, Tatzberg 47, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
With the introduction of single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) it has become possible to directly access the interactions of various molecular systems. A bottleneck in conventional SMFS is collecting the large amount of data required for statistically meaningful analysis. Currently, atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based SMFS requires the user to tediously 'fish' for single molecules. In addition, most experimental and environmental conditions must be manually adjusted. Here, we developed a fully automated single-molecule force spectroscope. The instrument is able to perform SMFS while monitoring and regulating experimental conditions such as buffer composition and temperature. Cantilever alignment and calibration can also be automatically performed during experiments. This, combined with in-line data analysis, enables the instrument, once set up, to perform complete SMFS experiments autonomously.
