During the last three decades, a series of key technological improvements turned atomic
force microscopy (AFM) into a nanoscopic laboratory to directly observe and chemically …

Molecular recognition, which is the process of biological macromolecules interacting with
each other or various small molecules with a high specificity and affinity to form a specific …

All soluble proteins populate conformational ensembles that together constitute the native
state. Their fluctuations in water are intrinsic thermodynamic phenomena, and the …

Force sensing at cadherin-mediated adhesions is critical for their proper function. α-Catenin,
which links cadherins to actomyosin, has a crucial role in this mechanosensing process. It …

Molecular recognition is central to all biological processes. For the past 50 years,
Koshland's' induced fit'hypothesis has been the textbook explanation for molecular …

Single molecule and NMR measurements of protein dynamics increasingly uncover the
complexity of binding scenarios. Here, we describe an extended conformational selection …

Soluble N-ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins
drive membrane fusion by assembling into a four-helix bundle in a zippering process. Here …

Protein folding occurs as a set of transitions between structural states within an energy
landscape. An oversimplified view of the folding process emerges when transiently …

INTRODUCTION In DNA double helices, hydrogen bonds connect the base pairs across the
two strands, and stacking bonds act along the helical axis between neighboring base pairs …

Biological processes rely on molecular interactions that can be directly measured using
force spectroscopy techniques. Here we review how atomic force microscopy can be applied …