Techniques
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Optical Tweezers
Optical tweezers are an all-optical non-contact tool that can be used to measure pN-forces and nm-displacements of micron-sized objects, suitable for studying motor proteins in a quantitative fashion. Our two optical tweezers are able to run independently, are equipped with TIRF, allow for fast detection in the µs-range, and include laser backscattering in order to detect gold nanoparticles. More |
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Single Particle Image Processing
Using negative stain electron microscopy combined with single particle image processing we determine the structural properties of biological samples. A comparison between two dimensional class averages and crystal structures is used to interpret the resulting averaged images. For image processing we specialized on the SPIDER & WEB software package, but also various other programs are used. |
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(Two-color) TIRF
In our lab we apply total-internal-reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy in order to study the binding behaviour and motility of different myosin in the presence of actin. We are equipped with single-color as well as two-color TIRF setups.
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STORM / PALM
One of our microscope can be used to perform STORM / PALM ( (STochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy / Photo-Activated Localization) acquisition in 2D or 3D and up to 3 colors. With this technique, a resolution down to 30 nm, one order of magnitude below the diffraction limit, can be achieved on non-moving samples using an optical microscope. |
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Other methods
In order to prepare and study biological samples, such as molecular motors, a number of different biochemical methods is necessary. We are able to express and purify the molecules of interest and examine them further, making use of a broad spectrum of techniques
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