Research in our lab marries aspects of physics and biology to study the properties of proteins or nucleic acids at the level of single macromolecules and molecular complexes. Experimental tools include laser-based optical traps ("optical tweezers") and a variety of state-of-the-art fluorescence techniques, in conjunction with custom-built instrumentation for the nanometer-level detection of displacements and piconewton-level detection of forces. Current experimental work in our lab focuses on several biological motors and polymers, including RNA polymerase, riboswitches, and kinesin.
Click here for an introduction to optical tweezers.
Recent publications
- Duesterberg, V.K., Fischer-Hwang, I.T., Perez, C.F., Hogan, D.W., Block, S.M. Observation of long-range tertiary interactions during ligand binding by the TPP riboswitch aptamer. eLife 12362. Full text
- Fazal, F.M., Koslover, D.J., Luisi, B.F., Block, S.M. Direct observation of processive exoribonuclease motion using optical tweezers. PNAS 112: 15101-15106. Full text
- Fazal, F.M., Meng, C.A., Murakami, K., Kornberg, R.D., Block, S.M. Real-time observation of the initiation of RNA polymerase II transcription. Nature 525: 274-277. Full text
- Garcia-Garcia, C., Frieda, K.L., Feoktistova, K., Fraser, C.S., Block, S.M. Factor-dependent processivity in human eIF4A DEAD-box helicase. Science 348: 1486-1488. Full text
- Andreasson, J.O.L., Milic, B., Chen, G.Y., Guydosh, N.R., Hancock, W.O., Block, S.M. Examining kinesin processivity within a general gating framework. eLife 07403. Full text
- Andreasson, J.O.L., Shastry, S., Hancock, W.O., Block, S.M. The mechanochemical cycle of mammalian kinesin-2 KIF3A/B under load. Current Biology 25: 1166-1175. Full text
- Blakely, B.L, Dumelin, C.E., Trappmann, B., McGregor, L.M., Choi, C.K., Anthony, P.C., Duesterberg, V.K., Baker, B.M., Block, S.M., Liu, D.R., Chen, C.S. A DNA-based molecular probe for optically reporting cellular traction forces. Nature Methods 11: 1229-1232. Full text
- Milic, B., Andreasson, J.O.L., Hancock, W.O., Block, S.M. Kinesin processivity is gated by phosphate release. PNAS 111: 14136-14140. Full text
- Larson, M.H., Mooney, R.A., Peters, J.M., Windgassen, T., Nayak, D., Gross, C.A., Block, S.M., Greenleaf, W.J., Landick, R., Weissman, J.S. A pause sequence enriched at translation start sites drives transcription dynamics in vivo. Science 344: 1042-1047. Full text