Magnetic tweezer device

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of microimaging, and discloses a magnetic tweezer device for controlling the motion of single molecule. The device comprises a sample pool, a magnet control unit, an imaging unit and a control unit, wherein the sample pool is used for containing a single molecule sample and solution; the single molecule sample is positioned in the solution; one end of the single molecule sample is connected to the bottom part of a piece of cover glass of the sample pool and while the other end of the single molecule sample is connected with a magnetic ball; the magnet control unit is positioned below the sample pool and used for controlling the motion of the magnetic ball; the imaging unit is used for transmitting light to the sample pool and outputting a reflected light signal that records the motion state of the magnetic ball; the control unit is used for receiving and converting the reflected light signal and measuring and analyzing the motion of the magnetic call. According to the magnetic tweezer device, a vertical up-down tweezer is provided, which avoids system error caused by gravity, and the measurement precision is also greatly raised.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of microscopic imaging, in particular to a magnetic tweezers device. Background technique [0002] The last two decades have seen an explosion of research at the single-molecule level. People have successively developed single-molecule research techniques such as glass microneedles, atomic force microscopes, and optical tweezers to directly manipulate and detect individual molecules. Compared with the above-mentioned single-molecule manipulation techniques, magnetic tweezers have higher force measurement accuracy and will not cause damage to the sample. [0003] In the existing magnetic tweezers technology, when the magnetic ball is moving under force, it not only has the magnetic force in the horizontal direction, but also is affected by its own gravity, so there will be a gravitational interference in the vertical direction. Molecules are oriented obliquely downwards. At this time, the motion of the bal...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, these two points are not taken into account when calculating the force and motion of the ball, so the accuracy of the measured experimental results is not high

In addition, the existing magnetic tweezers sample cell is more complex, time-consuming and costly to manufacture; the molecules in the sample cell are far away from the external magnet, resulting in a small magnetic force that can be applied, generally less than 30pN

Due to the limitations of the force measurement principle of traditional magnetic tweezers, it is impossible to measure molecules with shorter lengths below microns

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