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...

Plasmonic nanopores for single molecule sensing

Grabbing a single molecule and inspecting its contents is far from easy. Apart from the small size of the objects, biomolecules shake, shimmer, and bounce around a tremendous amount. How can one gently control something that small (without squashing or destroying it) and still be able to tell what it is? The work in this thesis is exactly aimed...

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...