Navigation auf zora.uzh.ch

Search ZORA

ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive)

Single-molecule electrometry

Abstract

Mass and electrical charge are fundamental properties of biological macromolecules. Although molecular mass has long been determined with atomic precision, a direct and precise determination of molecular charge remains an outstanding challenge. Here we report high-precision (<1e) measurements of the electrical charge of molecules such as nucleic acids, and globular and disordered proteins in solution. The measurement is based on parallel external field-free trapping of single macromolecules, permits the estimation of a dielectric coefficient of the molecular interior and can be performed in real time. Further, we demonstrate the direct detection of single amino acid substitution and chemical modifications in proteins. As the electrical charge of a macromolecule strongly depends on its three-dimensional conformation, this kind of high-precision electrometry offers an approach to probe the structure, fluctuations and interactions of a single molecule in solution.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Biochemistry
07 Faculty of Science > Department of Biochemistry

07 Faculty of Science > Department of Chemistry
Dewey Decimal Classification:570 Life sciences; biology
610 Medicine & health
Scopus Subject Areas:Physical Sciences > Bioengineering
Physical Sciences > Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Physical Sciences > Biomedical Engineering
Physical Sciences > General Materials Science
Physical Sciences > Condensed Matter Physics
Physical Sciences > Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Uncontrolled Keywords:Electrical and Electronic Engineering, General Materials Science, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Bioengineering, Condensed Matter Physics, Biomedical Engineering
Language:English
Date:May 2017
Deposited On:23 Jun 2017 10:19
Last Modified:17 Oct 2024 01:36
Publisher:Nature Publishing Group
ISSN:1748-3387
OA Status:Closed
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.26
PubMed ID:28288117

Metadata Export

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics
69 citations in Web of Science®
68 citations in Scopus®
Google Scholar™

Altmetrics

Downloads

1 download since deposited on 23 Jun 2017
0 downloads since 12 months
Detailed statistics

Authors, Affiliations, Collaborations

Similar Publications