NanoBiosensors and Molecular Tracking Lab

Single-molecule detection provides researchers with a unique method to probe kinetics of biomolecules in their native environment, without the need to synchronize the molecular states. However, current single-molecule measurements of DNA hybridization kinetics are mostly performed on a surface or inside an electrokinetic trap, which are not physiologically relevant conditions. Recently we demonstrate a time-resolved, 3D single-molecule tracking (3D-SMT) method that that can follow individual DNA molecules diffusing inside a mammalian cell and observe multiple annealing and melting events on the same molecules. By comparing the hybridization kinetics of the same DNA strand in vitro, we found the association constants can be 13- to 163-fold higher in the molecular crowding cellular environment. In contrast to other confocal-feedback 3D single-particle tracking demonstrations, we tracked single DNA reporter strands inside a live cell and measured their annealing-melting kinetics. Although camera-based techniques combined with point-spread function engineering can achieve 3D tracking in live cells, they do not offer any lifetime monitoring capability that can be used to reveal the molecular binding kinetics...