Can Dissipative Properties of Single Molecules Be Extracted from a Force Spectroscopy Experiment?

ABSTRACT: We performed dynamic force spectroscopy of single dextran and titin I27 molecules using small-amplitude and low-frequency (40-240 Hz) dithering of an atomic force microscope tip excited by a sine wave voltage fed onto the tip-carrying piezo. We show that for such low-frequency dithering experiments, recorded phase information can be unambiguously interpreted within the framework of a transparent theoretical model that starts from a well-known partial differential equation to describe the dithering of an atomic force microscope cantilever and a single molecule attached to its end system, uses an appropriate set of initial and boundary conditions, and does not exploit any implicit suggestions. We conclude that the observed phase (dissipation) signal is due completely to the dissipation relat

SUBMITTER: Benedetti F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5034718 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature