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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Monitoring Conformational Dynamics of Single Unmodified Proteins using Plasmonic Nanotweezers
Published on: March 21, 2025
Conformational Dynamics of a Single Protein Monitored for 24 h at Video Rate
Weixiang Ye1,2, Markus Götz, Sirin Celiksoy1
1Institute of Physical Chemistry , University of Mainz , Duesbergweg 10-14 , D-55128 Mainz , Germany.
Abstract:
We use plasmon rulers to follow the conformational dynamics of a single protein for up to 24 h at a video rate. The plasmon ruler consists of two gold nanospheres connected by a single protein linker. In our experiment, we follow the dynamics of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is known to show "open" and "closed" conformations. Our measurements confirm the previously known conformational dynamics with transition times in the second to minute time scale and reveals new dynamics on the time scale of minutes to hours. Plasmon rulers thus extend the observation bandwidth 3-4 orders of magnitude with respect to single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer and enable the study of molecular dynamics with unprecedented precision.
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