In the congested intracellular environment, scientists in the Netherlands and the US have found a way for molecules to manoeuvre through the crowds and arrive at their destination faster, increasing the efficiency of lengthy laboratory processes, such as polymerase chain reactions (PCRs).
Biomolecules must find and associate with other biomolecules to carry out basic processes within a cell. To do so, many will randomly diffuse within the cell’s three-dimensional space, which is very time-consuming. Some proteins have evolved to glide along DNA and sample positions in a one-dimensional fashion in search of their target, akin to driving down a highway and stopping to sightsee along the way. This has the potential to speed up these processes. Read the full article in Chemistry World»
Read the original journal article in Chemical Science – it’s open access and free to read:
Speeding up biomolecular interactions by molecular sledding
Alexander Turkin, Lei Zhang, Alessio Marcozzi, Walter F. Mangel, Andreas Herrmann and Antoine M. van Oijen
DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03063C, Edge Article
