title: Future challenges in single-molecule fluorescence and laser trap approaches to studies of molecular motors.
abstract: Single-molecule analysis is a powerful modern form of biochemistry, in which individual kinetic steps of a catalytic cycle of an enzyme can be explored in exquisite detail. Both single-molecule fluorescence and single-molecule force techniques have been widely used to characterize a number of protein systems. We focus here on molecular motors as a paradigm. We describe two areas where we expect to see exciting developments in the near future: first, characterizing the coupling of force production to chemical and mechanical changes in motors, and second, understanding how multiple motors work together in the environment of the cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Williard
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Elting
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Spudich
mesh_terms: D002465:Cell Movement; D005453:Fluorescence; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D052898:Optical Tweezers
chemical_list: D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins