A Random Walk Towards the Golden Fleece: Single-molecule Investigations of Argonaute Target Search

In this thesis we used single-molecule FRET to investigate the kinetic properties of a protein called Argonaute. While traditionally one uses bulk methods to investigate the molecular properties of proteins, bulk methods do not confer information that is transient, since that is inherently averaged out. Single-molecule methods, as their name...

Seek and Destroy: Single-molecule perspective on the target search and recognition by the Cas9 endonuclease

The most commonly known relationship between the macromolecules of life – DNA, RNA and protein – is the central dogma which states that information flows from DNA to RNA through transcription and from RNA to protein through translation. The discovery of non-coding RNAs has altered and expanded this picture by revealing many more functions of RNA...

Why Argonaute is needed to make microRNA target search fast and reliable

MicroRNA (miRNA) interferes with the translation of cognate messenger RNA (mRNA) by finding, preferentially binding, and marking it for degradation. To facilitate the search process, Argonaute (Ago) proteins come together with miRNA, forming a dynamic search complex. In this review we use the language of free-energy landscapes to discuss...