Measurement of Single Molecule Torque by Magnetic tweezers (MT) (CAT#: STEM-MB-1240-WXH)

Introduction

DNA and other linear biopolymers accumulate torsional stress under the action of a rotary force or torque. This property has important biological implications, for example, torsional stress affects the action of enzymes that act on DNA. Fundamental biological processes such as DNA replication and transcription involve biological nanomachines that exert torque on double-stranded (ds) DNA and chromatin. Understanding how biological processes and linear biopolymers are affected by torsional stress is important in the design of chemotherapeutic drugs, and applications involving DNA biological machines. Moreover, the ability to measure the torque of single molecules is important in understanding molecular structure, such as the chromatin structure, and, in general, an essential tool to study the torsional properties of nanoscale linear biopolymers