SINGLE-MOLECULAR AFM IMAGING OF SPECIFIC DNA SEQUENCING AND PROTEIN-DNA INTERACTION ON SOLID SURFACE

M. Aizawa, G. H. Seong, Y. Yanagida, and E. Kobatake

Department of Biological Information, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8501

AFM is uniquely suited for biological studies and provides a means by which the macromolecular interactions responsible for genetic and cellular regulation can be characterized under native conditions, although it suffers from problems in resolution. We have successfully demonstrated the single-molecular AFM probing of specific DNA sequencing using RecA-promoted homologous pairing and strand exchange, along with the direct AFM visualization of the DNA bending induced by transcription factors.