FRETBursts: An Open Source Toolkit for Analysis of Freely-Diffusing Single-Molecule FRET.

ABSTRACT: Single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (smFRET) allows probing intermolecular interactions and conformational changes in biomacromolecules, and represents an invaluable tool for studying cellular processes at the molecular scale. smFRET experiments can detect the distance between two fluorescent labels (donor and acceptor) in the 3-10 nm range. In the commonly employed confocal geometry, molecules are free to diffuse in solution. When a molecule traverses the excitation volume, it emits a burst of photons, which can be detected by single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) detectors. The intensities of donor and acceptor fluorescence can then be related to the distance between the two fluorophores. While recent years have seen a growing number of contributions proposing improvements o

SUBMITTER: Ingargiola A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4988647 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature