Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Tutzing 2026

Single-Molecule FRET: The Next 30 Years

Thursday Speaker Abstracts

DNA FRET SENSORS: FROM PROBING DNA SYNTHESIS IN NANOFLUIDIC DEVICES TO QUANTIFYING COMPLEX INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DNA TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS Johannes Hohlbein 1,2 ; 1 Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands 2 BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Senftenberg, Germany Single-molecule FRET is a powerful technique to overcome static and dynamic heterogeneity. Probing interactions and reactions with high throughput and high spatiotemporal resolution, however, has remained challenging. I will first introduce various DNA-based FRET sensors that allow monitoring the binding of DNA transcription factors or DNA polymerases at the single molecule level and in real time. The sensors are further characterised in glass-made nanofluidic devices that confine the diffusional movement of the probes thereby enabling high throughput measurements and, in a mixing geometry, even the continuous observation of chemical reactions such as DNA synthesis. In the second part, FRET sensors are used to quantify the cooperative action of individual interaction domains in Arabidopsis thaliana ARF transcription factors. Fijen et al. (2017), https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CP05919H Fontana, Fijen et al. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1039/C8LC01175C Fontana et al. (2023), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2219916120

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