Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2025
Force Spectroscopy of Single Protein Molecules Using an Atomic Force Microscope
Published on: February 28, 2019
Mechanical characterization of base analogue modified nucleic acids by force spectroscopy
Vinoth Sundar Rajan1, Xavier Viader-Godoy2, Yii-Lih Lin3
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. marcus.wilhelmsson@chalmers.se and Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. fredrik.westerlund@chalmers.se.
Abstract:
We use mechanical unfolding of single DNA hairpins with modified bases to accurately assess intra- and intermolecular forces in nucleic acids. As expected, the modification stabilizes the hybridized hairpin, but we also observe intriguing stacking interactions in the unfolded hairpin. Our study highlights the benefit of using base-modified nucleic acids in force-spectroscopy.
