Information presented here is
based on our research that uses force spectroscopy as a major research tool.
For more information see our articles that describe studies of interactions
between single alpha-synuclein fragments (published in JACS), single-molecule
studies of hydrophobic forces between individual hexadecane molecules (published
in JPC-B and Langmuir) and studies of pairwise interactions between fullerene
molecules (published in JPC-C). Our recent article [6] describes the model
that can be used to account for two-bond ruptures that might occur in force-spectroscopy
measurements and add a tail of high forces in the probability distribution
of measured rupture forces.
[1] Ray, C. and Akhremitchev, B. B. "Conformational
Heterogeneity of Surface-Grafted Amyloidogenic Fragments of Alpha-Synuclein
Dimers Detected by Atomic Force Microscopy" J. Am. Chem. Soc.
2005, 127 (42), 14739 - 14744.
[2] Ray, C.; Brown, J.R. and Akhremitchev, B. B. "Single-molecule
Force Spectroscopy Measurements of "Hydrophobic Bond" between
Tethered Hexadecane Molecules" J. Phys. Chem. B 2006,
110 (35), 17578 - 17583.
[3] Ray, C.; Brown, J.R. and Akhremitchev, B. B. "Correction
of Systematic Errors in Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy with Polymeric
Tethers by Atomic Force Microscopy" J. Phys. Chem. B 2007,
111 (8) pp 1963 - 1974.
[4] Ray, C.; Brown, J.R. and Akhremitchev, B. B. "Rupture
force analysis and the associated systematic errors in force spectroscopy
by AFM" Langmuir 2007 , 23 (11)
pp 6076-6083.
[5] Gu, C.; Ray, C; Guo, S.; Akhremitchev, B. B. "Single-Molecule
Force Spectroscopy Measurements of Interactions between C60 Fullerene Molecules"
J. Phys. Chem. C 2007 , 111 (35), 12898-12905.
[6] Gu, C.; Kirkpatrick, A.; Ray, C; Guo, S.; Akhremitchev, B. B.
"Effects
of Multiple Bonds Rupture in Force Spectroscopy Measurements of Interactions
between Fullerene C60 Molecules in Water" J. Phys. Chem. C
2008, 112 (13), 5085 -5092.
Here are two references on the
general aspects of force spectroscopy:
[7] Janshoff, A.; Neitzert, M.; Oberdorfer, Y.; Fuchs, H. "Force
spectroscopy of molecular systems" Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit.
2000, 39, 3213-3237.
[8] Hugel, T.; Seitz, M. “The
Study of Molecular Interactions by AFM Force Spectroscopy” Macromol.
Rapid Commun. 2001, 22, 989-1016.
A review article on using AFM in biophysics:
[9] Alessandrini, A.; Facci, P, "AFM:
a versatile tool in biophysics" Meas. Sci. Technol. 2005, 16, R65-R92.
