Designing and Testing Protein Constructs for Optical Tweezer Experiments*

Understanding how proteins fold is a central challenge in biophysics and molecular biology with critical implications for cellular function and understanding fundamental physical principles of self-organization in complex systems.

In this project we explore the response of a single protein to externally applied force using optical tweezers, to study protein dynamic and in general the mechanisms of protein folding. Proteins were engineered with DNA handles and tethered to DNA handles connected to beads, enabling precise manipulation and force measurement at the single-molecule level. 

These results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining rational design with single-molecule force spectroscopy techniques for studying complex biological systems.