Single molecule measurements and molecular motors

Abstract

Single molecule imaging and manipulation are powerful tools in describing the operations of molecular machines like molecular motors. The single molecule measurements allow a dynamic behaviour of individual biomolecules to be measured. In this paper, we describe how we have developed single molecule measurements to understand the mechanism of molecular motors. The step movement of molecular motors associated with a single cycle of ATP hydrolysis has been identified. The single molecule measurements that have sensitivity to monitor thermal fluctuation have revealed that thermal Brownian motion is involved in the step movement of molecular motors. Several mechanisms have been suggested in different motors to bias random thermal motion to directional movement.