Single-molecule force spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool to investigate the forces and motions associated with biological molecules and enzymatic activity. The most common force spectroscopy techniques are optical tweezers, magnetic tweezers and atomic force microscopy. Here we describe these techniques and illustrate them with examples highlighting current capabilities and limitations.
Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 50, 50 South Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. neumankc@mail.nih.gov
