JPK Instruments reports on the work from the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department of the Medical School at the University of Nebraska.
The Department has selected the JPK Forcerobot 300 system to extend its studies applying atomic force microscopy, AFM, in the measurement of single-molecule force spectroscopy.
A genomics research group at UNMC led by Prof Yuri Lyubchenko aims to unravel the role of the DNA dynamics at different levels as key mechanisms for various DNA functions including gene regulation, DNA recombination and the mismatch repair with the major focus on DNA recombination.
The misfolding and aggregation of proteins are widespread phenomena leading to the development of numerous neurodegenerative disorders for which there is currently no cure.
Lyubchenko's group has published widely using AFM as both a direct and complimentary tool to advance its understanding of biological processes, some of which are relevant to human health.
Single-molecule force spectroscopy is used to study interactions between peptides and proteins involved in the development of these neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
AFM helps to bridge the gap of various techniques that are capable of looking at the complex processes of protein misfolding and aggregation.
However, it has the drawback of being very time- and labour consuming to make measurements.
This has been solved by the introduction of JPK's Forcerobot 300 system.
