Single molecule transcription elongation.
Single molecule optical trapping assays have now been applied to a great number of macromolecular systems including DNA, RNA, cargo motors, restriction enzymes, DNA helicases, chromosome remodelers, DNA polymerases and both viral and bacterial RNA polymerases. The advantages of the technique are the ability to observe dynamic, unsynchronized molecular processes, to determine the distributions of experimental quantities and to apply force to the system while monitoring the response over time. Here, we describe the application of these powerful techniques to study the dynamics of transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzerstrasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany. egalburt@biochem.wustl.edu
Eric A
EA
Galburt
Stephan W
SW
Grill
Carlos
C
Bustamante
D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors
D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors; D012319:RNA Polymerase II