Molecular Biophysics
(Dr. Peter Nietmann, Thomas Glandorff)
Single Molecule Analysis
In our research group, we design single-molecule experiments either based on rational design or by using macromolecules provided by nature itself. Stochastic modeling of bond breakage under external load allows for the reconstruction of the energy landscape. Particularly, we use optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy-based loading of individual bonds/molecules (e.g., unfolding of of LHC II (with Harald Paulsen), detachment of synaptotagmin-1 (with Reinhard Jahn) and vimentin (with Sarah Koester).Along these lines, we employ the consecutive rupture of antibodies attached to the tip of the cantilever and antigen-presenting membrane proteins during the scanning of a cell surface to obtain a high-resolution map of proteins without using fluorescent labels.