Single-Molecule Tracking in Live Cell without Immobilization or without Hydrodynamic Flow by Simulations: Thermodynamic Jitter

Abstract

Experiments to measure a single molecule/particle, i.e., an individual molecule/particle, at room temperature or under physiological conditions without immobilization—for example, on a surface or without significant hydrodynamic flow—have so far failed. This failure has given impetus to the underlying theory of Brownian molecular motion towards its stochastics due to diffusion. Quantifying the thermodynamic jitter of molecules/particles inspires many and forms the theoretical basis of single-molecule/single-particle biophysics and biochemistry. For the first time, our simulation results for a live cell (cytoplasm) show that the tracks of individual single molecules are localized in Brownian motion, while there is fanning out in fractal diffusion (anomalous diffusion).