Optical Tweezers Analysis of DNA–Protein Complexes

Iddo Heller , Tjalle P. Hoekstra , Graeme A. King , Erwin J. G. Peterman , and Gijs J. L. Wuite

Cellular DNA is continuously engaged in a molecular dance with many accessory proteins. These proteins are responsible for orchestrating the storage, maintenance, and transfer of genetic information. Together, the genomic operations make up the various metabolic pathways of DNA, which cascade into all aspects of cellular life. Over the past two decades, optical tweezers analyses of DNA–protein complexes have provided unique mechanistic insights into this molecular dance. Numerous assays have been devised to probe and elucidate DNA–protein interactions spanning the full range of DNA metabolic processes using optical tweezers. In this review, we provide an overview of the field, highlighting the unique opportunities that optical tweezers provide for DNA–protein analysis. We will describe the different experimental assays used and their limitations and advantages and review the many contributions that optical tweezers have made to our fundamental understanding of DNA transactions.

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