| Mar 08, 2012 |
Protein transport with nanometer precision via 'cut and paste' method
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(Nanowerk News) Peptides and antibodies can be used as new handles and anchors for single-molecule cut and paste (SMC&P), as reported by Hermann Gaub and co-workers, University of Munich, Germany (see paper in ChemPhysChem: "Peptide–Antibody Complex as Handle for Single-Molecule Cut & Paste"). According to the authors, their most recent results are an important step towards the assembly of all-protein molecular devices.
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| Approx. 600 molecules are exact placed to picture a stylized cantilever and antibody.
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SMC&P can be applied to select individual molecular building blocks, such as enzymes, and place them at a chosen position on a construction site. It combines the Ångstrom positioning precision of the atomic force microscope (AFM) with the selectivity of molecular recognition.
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Up to now, researchers had only used DNA oligomers as general molecular handles and anchors. But to make SMC&P widely applicable, an all-protein approach is required. Gaub and colleagues have employed a novel handle system based on a short peptide on the molecular building blocks, which is recognized by a specific antibody at the AFM tip.
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"We could unambiguously demonstrate that molecular arrangements can be assembled one by one with a precision much better than the resolution limit of the light microscope", Gaub says.
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