scholarly journals The physics of life: one molecule at a time

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1611) ◽  
pp. 20120248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Leake
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Robust Methods ◽  
Erwin Schrödinger ◽  
Biophysical Analysis ◽  
Spatial Boundary ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Near Future

The esteemed physicist Erwin Schrödinger, whose name is associated with the most notorious equation of quantum mechanics, also wrote a brief essay entitled ‘What is Life?’, asking: ‘How can the events in space and time which take place within the spatial boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics and chemistry?’ The 60+ years following this seminal work have seen enormous developments in our understanding of biology on the molecular scale, with physics playing a key role in solving many central problems through the development and application of new physical science techniques, biophysical analysis and rigorous intellectual insight. The early days of single-molecule biophysics research was centred around molecular motors and biopolymers, largely divorced from a real physiological context. The new generation of single-molecule bioscience investigations has much greater scope, involving robust methods for understanding molecular-level details of the most fundamental biological processes in far more realistic, and technically challenging, physiological contexts, emerging into a new field of ‘single-molecule cellular biophysics’. Here, I outline how this new field has evolved, discuss the key active areas of current research and speculate on where this may all lead in the near future.

scholarly journals A model of processive walking and slipping of kinesin-8 molecular motors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Xie
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
External Load ◽  
Molecular Motor ◽  
Velocity Versus ◽  
Stick Slip ◽  
Load Dependence ◽  
Chemomechanical Coupling ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Stick Slip Motion

AbstractKinesin-8 molecular motor can move with superprocessivity on microtubules towards the plus end by hydrolyzing ATP molecules, depolymerizing microtubules. The available single molecule data for yeast kinesin-8 (Kip3) motor showed that its superprocessive movement is frequently interrupted by brief stick–slip motion. Here, a model is presented for the chemomechanical coupling of the kinesin-8 motor. On the basis of the model, the dynamics of Kip3 motor is studied analytically. The analytical results reproduce quantitatively the available single molecule data on velocity without including the slip and that with including the slip versus external load at saturating ATP as well as slipping velocity versus external load at saturating ADP and no ATP. Predicted results on load dependence of stepping ratio at saturating ATP and load dependence of velocity at non-saturating ATP are provided. Similarities and differences between dynamics of kinesin-8 and that of kinesin-1 are discussed.

scholarly journals Single-molecule FRET dynamics of molecular motors in an ABEL trap

Methods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Dienerowitz ◽  
Jamieson A.L. Howard ◽  
Steven D. Quinn ◽  
Frank Dienerowitz ◽  
Mark C. Leake
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Single Molecule Fret

scholarly journals Personalized medicine for reconstruction of critical-size bone defects – a translational approach with customizable vascularized bone tissue

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Kengelbach-Weigand ◽  
Carolina Thielen ◽  
Tobias Bäuerle ◽  
Rebekka Götzl ◽  
Thomas Gerber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Size ◽  
Therapeutic Option ◽  
Living Organism ◽  
Bone Defects ◽  
Sheep Model ◽  
Simple Alternative ◽  
Translational Approach ◽  
Near Future

AbstractTissue engineering principles allow the generation of functional tissues for biomedical applications. Reconstruction of large-scale bone defects with tissue-engineered bone has still not entered the clinical routine. In the present study, a bone substitute in combination with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) with or without growth factors BMP-2 and VEGF-A was prevascularized by an arteriovenous (AV) loop and transplanted into a critical-size tibia defect in the sheep model. With 3D imaging and immunohistochemistry, we could show that this approach is a feasible and simple alternative to the current clinical therapeutic option. This study serves as proof of concept for using large-scale transplantable, vascularized, and customizable bone, generated in a living organism for the reconstruction of load-bearing bone defects, individually tailored to the patient’s needs. With this approach in personalized medicine for the reconstruction of critical-size bone defects, regeneration of parts of the human body will become possible in the near future.

scholarly journals Emerging Applications of Nanotechnology in Healthcare Systems: Grand Challenges and Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 707
Author(s):  
Sumaira Anjum ◽  
Sara Ishaque ◽  
Hijab Fatima ◽  
Wajiha Farooq ◽  
Christophe Hano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Targeted Drug Delivery ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
Review Paper ◽  
Genetic Diseases ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Human Right ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Immense Potential ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Shed Light

Healthcare, as a basic human right, has often become the focus of the development of innovative technologies. Technological progress has significantly contributed to the provision of high-quality, on-time, acceptable, and affordable healthcare. Advancements in nanoscience have led to the emergence of a new generation of nanostructures. Each of them has a unique set of properties that account for their astonishing applications. Since its inception, nanotechnology has continuously affected healthcare and has exerted a tremendous influence on its transformation, contributing to better outcomes. In the last two decades, the world has seen nanotechnology taking steps towards its omnipresence and the process has been accelerated by extensive research in various healthcare sectors. The inclusion of nanotechnology and its allied nanocarriers/nanosystems in medicine is known as nanomedicine, a field that has brought about numerous benefits in disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Various nanosystems have been found to be better candidates for theranostic purposes, in contrast to conventional ones. This review paper will shed light on medically significant nanosystems, as well as their applications and limitations in areas such as gene therapy, targeted drug delivery, and in the treatment of cancer and various genetic diseases. Although nanotechnology holds immense potential, it is yet to be exploited. More efforts need to be directed to overcome these limitations and make full use of its potential in order to revolutionize the healthcare sector in near future.

Molecular Motors: Force and Movement Generated by Single Myosin II Molecules

Physiology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caspar Rüegg ◽  
Claudia Veigel ◽  
Justin E. Molloy ◽  
Stephan Schmitz ◽  
John C. Sparrow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Tweezers ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Molecular Motor ◽  
Myosin Ii ◽  
Force Production ◽  
Myosin Isoforms ◽  
Single Molecule Level ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Muscle Myosin

Muscle myosin II is an ATP-driven, actin-based molecular motor. Recent developments in optical tweezers technology have made it possible to study movement and force production on the single-molecule level and to find out how different myosin isoforms may have adapted to their specific physiological roles.

scholarly journals Biochemistry: one molecule at a time

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Dominika T. Gruszka
Keyword(s):  
Complex Networks ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Molecular Heterogeneity ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Biological Macromolecule ◽  
Exciting Field ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Mechanistic Basis

Abstract Biological processes are orchestrated by complex networks of molecules. Conventional approaches for studying the action of biomolecules operate on a population level, averaging out any inhomogeneities within the ensemble. Investigating one biological macromolecule at a time allows researchers to directly probe individual behaviours, and thus characterise the intrinsic molecular heterogeneity of the system. Single-molecule methods have unravelled unexpected modes of action for many seemingly well-characterised biomolecules and often proved instrumental in understanding the intricate mechanistic basis of biological processes. This collection of reviews aims to showcase how single-molecule techniques can be used to address important biological questions and to inspire biochemists to ‘zoom in’ to the population and probe individual molecular behaviours, beyond the ensemble average. Furthermore, this issue of Essays in Biochemistry is the very first written and edited entirely by early career researchers, and so it also highlights the strength, diversity and excellence of the younger generation single-molecule scientists who drive this exciting field of research forward.

scholarly journals Stochastically pumped adaptation and directional motion of molecular machines

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (38) ◽  
pp. 9405-9413 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Dean Astumian
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Molecular Machines ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Stochastic Thermodynamics ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Directional Motion ◽  
External Fluctuations

Recent developments in synthetic molecular motors and pumps have sprung from a remarkable confluence of experiment and theory. Synthetic accomplishments have facilitated the ability to design and create molecules, many of them featuring mechanically bonded components, to carry out specific functions in their environment—walking along a polymeric track, unidirectional circling of one ring about another, synthesizing stereoisomers according to an external protocol, or pumping rings onto a long rod-like molecule to form and maintain high-energy, complex, nonequilibrium structures from simpler antecedents. Progress in the theory of nanoscale stochastic thermodynamics, specifically the generalization and extension of the principle of microscopic reversibility to the single-molecule regime, has enhanced the understanding of the design requirements for achieving strong unidirectional motion and high efficiency of these synthetic molecular machines for harnessing energy from external fluctuations to carry out mechanical and/or chemical functions in their environment. A key insight is that the interaction between the fluctuations and the transition state energies plays a central role in determining the steady-state concentrations. Kinetic asymmetry, a requirement for stochastic adaptation, occurs when there is an imbalance in the effect of the fluctuations on the forward and reverse rate constants. Because of strong viscosity, the motions of the machine can be viewed as mechanical equilibrium processes where mechanical resonances are simply impossible but where the probability distributions for the state occupancies and trajectories are very different from those that would be expected at thermodynamic equilibrium.

Introduction to Smart Environments

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Keyword(s):  
Value Added ◽  
Smart Environments ◽  
Smart Environment ◽  
Smart Spaces ◽  
Cooperative Activity ◽  
Computing Environments ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Internet Of Things

Now the Internet of Things (IoT) is growing fast into a large industry with huge potential economic impact expected in near future. The IoT technology evolves to a substrate for resource interconnection and convergence. The users' needs go beyond the existing web-like services, which do not provide satisfactory coupling and automatic composition when the user tries to solve tasks from her/his everyday life. New generation of services (named “smart services”) emerges. In this chapter, we introduce the problem of effective use of the multitude of IoT-enabled devices and other digital resources that now surround our lives. The devices support and assist human by provision of digital services. This is the key objective of a smart environment. Our focus is on such a particular class of smart environments as smart spaces. This class targets IoT-enabled computing environments, where a smart space is created and then provides an infrastructure for applications to construct and deliver value-added services based on cooperative activity of environment participants, either human or machines.

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