What is the biological relevance of the specific bond properties revealed by single-molecule studies ?

Philippe Robert (1) , Anne-Marie Benoliel (1) , Anne Pierres (1) , Pierre Bongrand (1)

1 LAI - Adhésion et Inflammation

During the last decade, many authors took advantage of new methodologies based on atomic force microscopy, biomembrane force probes, laminar flow chambers or optical traps to study at the single molecule level the formation and dissociation of bonds between receptors and ligands attached to surfaces. Experiments provided a wealth of data revealing the complexity of bond response to mechanical forces and the dependence of bond rupture on bond history. These results supported the existence of multiple binding states and/or reaction pathways. Also, single bond studies allowed us to monitor attachments mediated by a few bonds. The aim of this review is to discuss the impact of this new information on our understanding of biological molecules and phenomena. The following points are discussed: i) which parameters do we need to know in order to predict the behaviour of an encounter between receptors and ligands, ii) which information is actually yielded by single-molecule studies and iii) is it possible to relate this information to molecular structure ?

Mots clés: laminar flow chamber; atomic force microscopy; biomembrane force probe; optical traps; surface-attached molecules; binding strength; unbinding force; off-rate; Bell's law

Domaines: Biophysique [physics.bio-ph]; Biophysique

Philippe Robert, Anne-Marie Benoliel, Anne Pierres, Pierre Bongrand. What is the biological relevance of the specific bond properties revealed by single-molecule studies ?. Journal of Molecular Recognition, 2007, 20, pp.432-447. ⟨hal-00321008⟩