title: Molecular-scale force measurement in a coiled-coil peptide dimer by electron spin resonance.
abstract: A new method for measuring forces between small protein domains based on double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy is demonstrated using a model peptide derived from the alpha-helical coiled-coil leucine zipper of yeast transcriptional activator GCN4. The equilibrium distribution of distances between two nitroxide spin labels rigidly attached to the helices of the dimer was determined by DEER and yielded a closing force of 100 +/- 10 pN between monomers, in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Stefano V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Gullà
authors.forename: Gaurav
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borbat
authors.forename: Jack H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Freed
authors.forename: Harishchandra
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghimire
authors.forename: Monica R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Benedikt
authors.forename: Natasha L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Gary A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Lorigan
authors.forename: Kaushal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rege
authors.forename: Constantinos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mavroidis
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Budil