Quantifying Intermolecular Interactions

Atomic force microscopes can generate a highly detailed topological map of a specimen by moving a stylus coupled to a cantilever over the sample surface, using a laser to measure deflection of the cantilever.1 Now, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have adopted this principle to create a system capable of quantifying intermolecular interactions, with potential applications for both clinicians and high-throughput proteomics researchers.2 In a research article published in

| 3 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share

In a research article published in the September issue of Nature Biotechnology, Arun Majumdar, professor of mechanical engineering at Berkeley, and coauthors at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at UC-Berkeley, describe a system to quantify prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a prostate cancer protein marker.

The PSA test uses a cantilever 200 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, one side of which is coated with gold and conjugated to an antibody that recognizes PSA. Majumdar and his colleagues incubated the cantilever, which is a diving board-like device, with a simulated human serum that contained high concentrations of human plasminogen, human serum albumin, or bovine serum albumin, with varying concentrations of PSA. When the antibodies on the cantilever captured the PSA in the solution, the device bent a few nanometers in height. A laser beam aimed ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Jeffrey Perkel

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide