Single-molecule biophysics has transformed our understanding of biology, but also of the physics of life. More exotic than simple soft matter, biomatter lives far from thermal equilibrium, covering multiple lengths from the nanoscale of single molecules to up to several orders of magnitude higher in cells, tissues and organisms. Biomolecules are often characterized by underlying instability: multiple metastable free energy states exist, separated by levels of just a few multiples of the thermal energy scale k T, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T absolute temperature, implying complex inter-conversion kinetics in the relatively hot, wet environment of active biological matter. A key benefit of single-molecule biophysics techniques is their ability to probe heterogeneity of free energy states across a molecular population, too challenging in general for conventional ensemble average approaches. Parallel developments in experimental and computational techniques have catalysed the birth of multiplexed, correlative techniques to tackle previously intractable biological questions. Experimentally, progress has been driven by improvements in sensitivity and speed of detectors, and the stability and efficiency of light sources, probes and microfluidics. We discuss the motivation and requirements for these recent experiments, including the underpinning mathematics. These methods are broadly divided into tools which detect molecules and those which manipulate them. For the former we discuss the progress of super-resolution microscopy, transformative for addressing many longstanding questions in the life sciences, and for the latter we include progress in 'force spectroscopy' techniques that mechanically perturb molecules. We also consider in silico progress of single-molecule computational physics, and how simulation and experimentation may be drawn together to give a more complete understanding. Increasingly, combinatorial techniques are now used, including correlative atomic force microscopy and fluorescence imaging, to probe questions closer to native physiological behaviour. We identify the trade-offs, limitations and applications of these techniques, and discuss exciting new directions.

AbbreviationsDIG -digoxigenin, FWHM -full width at half maximum, λ DNA -Lambda phage DNA PSF -point spread function, SNR -signal-to-noise ratio. Highlights: A bifunctional DNA construct tethers single molecules to paramagnetic beads  Intercalating (YOYO-1) and minor groove (SYTO-13) dyes are bound to DNA and photoblink  Stochastic dye photoblinking is used to obtain superresolution information via localization microscopy Abstract:As proof-of-principle for generating superresolution structural information from DNA we applied a method of localization microscopy utilizing photoblinking comparing intercalating dye YOYO-1 against minor groove binding dye SYTO-13, using a bespoke multicolor single-molecule fluorescence microscope. We used a full-length ~49 kbp λ DNA construct possessing oligo inserts at either terminus allowing conjugation of digoxigenin and biotin at opposite ends for tethering to a glass coverslip surface and paramagnetic microsphere respectively. We observed stochastic DNA-bound dye photoactivity consistent with dye photoblinking as opposed to binding/unbinding events, evidenced through both discrete simulations and continuum kinetics analysis. We analyzed dye photoblinking images of immobilized DNA molecules using superresolution reconstruction software from two existing packages, rainSTORM and QuickPALM, and compared the results against our own novel home-written software called ADEMS code. ADEMS code generated lateral localization precision values of 30-40 nm and 60-70 nm for YOYO-1 and SYTO-13 respectively at video-rate sampling, similar to rainSTORM, running more slowly than rainSTORM and QuickPALM algorithms but having a complementary capability over both in generating automated centroid distribution and cluster analyses. Our imaging system allows us to observe dynamic topological changes to single molecules of DNA in real-time, such as rapid molecular snapping events. This will facilitate visualization of fluorescentlylabeled DNA molecules conjugated to a magnetic bead in future experiments involving newly developed magneto-optical tweezers combined with superresolution microscopy.

Soluble factors are an essential means of communication between cells and their environment. However, many molecules readily interact with extracellular matrix components, giving rise to multiple modes of diffusion. The molecular quantification of diffusion in situ is thus a challenging imaging frontier, requiring very high spatial and temporal resolution. Overcoming this methodological barrier is key to understanding the precise spatial patterning of the extracellular factors that regulate immune function. To address this, we have developed a high-speed light microscopy system capable of millisecond sampling in ex vivo tissue samples and submillisecond sampling in controlled in vitro samples to characterize molecular diffusion in a range of complex microenvironments. We demonstrate that this method outperforms competing tools for determining molecular mobility of fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) for evaluation of diffusion. We then apply this approach to study the chemokine CXCL13, a key determinant of lymphoid tissue architecture, and B-cell-mediated immunity. Super-resolution single-molecule tracking of fluorescently labeled CCL19 and CXCL13 in collagen matrix was used to assess the heterogeneity of chemokine mobility behaviors, with results indicating an immobile fraction and a mobile fraction for both molecules, with distinct diffusion rates of 8.4 ± 0.2 and 6.2 ± 0.3 µm2s−1, respectively. To better understand mobility behaviors in situ, we analyzed CXCL13-AF647 diffusion in murine lymph node tissue sections and observed both an immobile fraction and a mobile fraction with an example diffusion coefficient of 6.6 ± 0.4 µm2s−1, suggesting that mobility within the follicle is also multimodal. In quantitatively studying mobility behaviors at the molecular level, we have obtained an increased understanding of CXCL13 bioavailability within the follicle. Our high-speed single-molecule tracking approach affords a novel perspective from which to understand the mobility of soluble factors relevant to the immune system.

DNA-interacting proteins have roles in multiple processes, many operating as molecular machines which undergo dynamic meta-stable transitions to bring about their biological function. To fully understand this molecular heterogeneity, DNA and the proteins that bind to it must ideally be interrogated at a single molecule level in their native in vivo environments, in a time-resolved manner, fast enough to sample the molecular transitions across the free-energy landscape. Progress has been made over the past decade in utilizing cutting-edge tools of the physical sciences to address challenging biological questions concerning the function and modes of action of several different proteins which bind to DNA. These physiologically relevant assays are technically challenging but can be complemented by powerful and often more tractable in vitro experiments which confer advantages of the chemical environment with enhanced detection signal-to-noise of molecular signatures and transition events. In the present paper, we discuss a range of techniques we have developed to monitor DNA-protein interactions in vivo, in vitro and in silico. These include bespoke single-molecule fluorescence microscopy techniques to elucidate the architecture and dynamics of the bacterial replisome and the structural maintenance of bacterial chromosomes, as well as new computational tools to extract single-molecule molecular signatures from live cells to monitor stoichiometry, spatial localization and mobility in living cells. We also discuss recent developments from our laboratory made in vitro, complementing these in vivo studies, which combine optical and magnetic tweezers to manipulate and image single molecules of DNA, with and without bound protein, in a new super-resolution fluorescence microscope.

We present a novel experimental setup in which magnetic and optical tweezers are combined for torque and force transduction onto single filamentous molecules in a transverse configuration to allow simultaneous mechanical measurement and manipulation. Previously we have developed a super-resolution imaging module which in conjunction with advanced imaging techniques such as Blinking assisted Localisation Microscopy (BaLM) achieves localisation precision of single fluorescent dye molecules bound to DNA of ~30 nm along the contour of the molecule; our work here describes developments in producing a system which combines tweezing and super-resolution fluorescence imaging. The instrument also features an acousto-optic deflector that temporally divides the laser beam to form multiple traps for high throughput statistics collection. Our motivation for developing the new tool is to enable direct observation of detailed molecular topological transformation and protein binding event localisation in a stretching/twisting mechanical assay that previously could hitherto only be deduced indirectly from the end-to-end length variation of DNA. Our approach is simple and robust enough for reproduction in the lab without the requirement of precise hardware engineering, yet is capable of unveiling the elastic and dynamic properties of filamentous molecules that have been hidden using traditional tools.