Atomic force microscopy, biomembrane

Experimental techniques based on the application of mechanical forces to single molecules in small assemblies have been applied to study the binding properties of biomolecules and their response to external mechanical manipulations. Among such techniques are atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical tweezers, biomembrane force probe, and surface force apparatus experiments (Binning et al., 1986 Block and Svoboda, 1994 Evans et ah, 1995 Israelachvili, 1992). These techniques have inspired us and others (see also the chapters by Eichinger et al. and by Hermans et al. in this volume) to adopt a similar approach for the study of biomolecules by means of computer simulations. 

Li, A., Lee, P. Y, Ho, B., Ding, J. L., and Lim, C. T. 2007. Atomic force microscopy study of the antimicrobial action of sushi peptides on Gram negative bacteria, Biochimica Biophysica Acta-Biomembranes 1768,411-418. 

Experimentally, rupture forces in biological systems can be measured with atomic force microscopy, surface force apparatus, optical tweezers, or the biomembrane force probe technique. Each of these methods operates on different time.scales and gives additional insights into the dynamics strength of biological bonds (see Ref. 75). Since none of these methods yields details on the atomic level, this is a nice application for molecular dynamics. 

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