Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Scientists in China have developed a simple method for time-lapse imaging of single molecule reactions in situ by using DNA origami as a reaction surface.

The team recorded the whole dynamic process of the streptavidin–biotin binding reaction. They found that at a streptavidin concentration of 7.6 nM, the binding ratio increased steadily up to nearly 100% within 30 minutes.

This novel single-molecule reaction detection method, at the nanometre scale, may prove useful to study other macromolecule behavior and reaction kinetics, say the researchers.

Reference:
N Wu, X Zhou, D M Czajkowsky, M Ye, D Zeng, Y Fu, C Fan, J Hu and B Li, Nanoscale, 2011, DOI: 10.1039/ c1nr10181a