title: Single molecule studies of helicases with magnetic tweezers.
abstract: Helicases are a broad family of enzymes that perform crucial functions in DNA replication and in the maintenance of DNA and RNA integrity. A detailed mechanical study of helicases on DNA and RNA is possible using single molecule manipulation methods. Among those, magnetic tweezers (or traps) present a convenient, moderate throughput assay (tens of enzymes can be monitored simultaneously) that allow for high resolution (single base-pair) studies of these enzymes in various conditions and on various substrates (double and single stranded DNA and RNA). Here we discuss various implementation of the basic assay relevant for these studies.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Samar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hodeib
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física Fonamental, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER-BBN de Bioingenieria, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Instituto de Sanidad Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manosas
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Weiting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Debjani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bagchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ducos
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Allemand
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bensimon
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Université Paris Diderot Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France; Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, F-75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: Vincent.Croquette@lps.ens.fr.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Croquette
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D045566:DNA, Cruciform / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008280:Magnetics / Q000379:methods*; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000072760:Single Molecule Imaging / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D045566:DNA, Cruciform; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; D004265:DNA Helicases
keywords: DNA unwinding; Fork regression; Helicases; Holliday junction migration; Magnetic traps; ds-DNA fork