title: Single-molecule reconstruction of oligonucleotide secondary structure by atomic force microscopy.
abstract: Based on soft-touch atomic force microscopy, a method is described to reconstruct the secondary structure of single extended biomolecules, without the need for crystallization. The method is tested by accurately reproducing the dimensions of the B-DNA crystal structure. Importantly, intramolecular variations in groove depth of the DNA double helix are resolved, which would be inaccessible for methods that rely on ensemble-averaging.
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, 17-19 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pyne
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Debdulal
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Bart W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Hoogenboom
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA; atomic force microscopy; biomolecules; biophysics; oligonucleotides